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The circus was breaking piece by piece at a rapid pace, Pomni held her breath as she stared into the dark red exit door. This was real, this had to be!
Caine is cruel but he isn’t malicious.
the rest of the circus members were behind her, frozen as well. They seemed just as wary as she did of these implications, that this was it. The way out.
Jax was strangely silent, his eyes were almost unseeable at their small size.
a violent creak caused the world to tilt, Zooble stumbled, struggling to find their footing in the uneven ground. Caine was behind them, staring off into the void. His actions were slow and he seemed to almost be glitched into stillness.
”You should go.” dentures formed into words. Caine lacked his usual joyous energy which would have made Pomni curious but she had much better things to do and think about then some AI.
”Yeah. We should.” And yet Pomni couldn’t bring herself to move. This was really the end, after so long in the circus and this was it. Just like that?
NO. it couldn’t be.
Gangle then stepped through. The abrupt action made Pomni shiver, just like that and she was out. Just Like that. A cold silence dripped around the room and a sudden shrill scream could be heard from behind the void.
it wasn’t any of the humans and it certainly wasn’t Caine.
”Fuck no,” Zooble muttered, before hesitantly walking into the door. It took a minute for the last arm of their colourful body to glitch into the door.
Jax stayed still through. He looked wrecked, his breathing was uneven and Pomni wasn’t even sure he would actually go through the door. Jax fisted his palm and it trembled. He trembled
He turned around, a solemn look on his face, only to find Pomni shoving him backwards and into the door. A strangled yelp tore from his purple throat.
Silence.
Only Pomni and Kinger stood now, both staring at Caine with vastly different expression on their faces.
Caine waited for another minute, no movement, he looked confused. Then his expression softened. A forced smile made his way to his lips.
”Hey my superstars. Thank you for joining us in The Amazing Digital Circus! We hope you enjoyed your experience, C&A will- Caine will miss you very much,”
Pomni hadn’t known she had needed that, some confirmation this was real… something.
Pomni turned and began to walk into the door. Kinger was still there, still as a statue. Pomni prayed he would follow her inside and stepped inside the dark red portal.
She fell through before she could find out.
~-|……………………………..|-~
Pomni hacked and coughed into her sleeve, she groaned as her thrumming headache. She felt like sludge, her legs were jelly, her arms jam and her head. Good god she felt tired.
so tired.
so fucking tired.
her eyes-
Wait- fucking? No censor?
That couldn’t only mean… Pomni painfully pried her eyes open and the light felt almost blinding, it was so fucking bright it hurt. As if someone had taken snow and shoved it into her eyes. Her breath stuttered, she gasped because it felt as if her lungs were collapsing. Dust clogged her lungs and mouth. It tasted disgusting, yet sweet almost. She shut her eyes again
Pomni could hear incoherent mumbles from the room, a lazy, unbothered tone it scratched her brain painfully. A loud offended voice shouted from beside him, telling him to shut up? Or something like that. It hurt, so much.
Pomni tried to take a deep breath and then immediately wished she hadn’t done that. Her chest immediately burned with a nauseating pain.
Her ears rang like bells and it was beginning to piss her off.
”Omni- Pomni- can you hear… mni we need… what are…” stuttered words came and went out of her hearing range. Pomni curled into herself and succumbed once more to the gorgeous black that coated her irises.
~-|……………………………..|-~
“Pomni,” an annoying voice drawled “You certainly took your time, jeez how long does a jester need to sleep-?” A loud sound echoed suddenly and the voice shut up.
pomni opened her eyes again, it hurt. Her everything hurt so much, everything was still white. She shut her eyes again. She hiccuped and her mouth felt painfully dry. She wondered if she bit her tongue and blood leaked from it would the dryness end? Not the pain, never the pain. But some comfort would be earned at least.
”Pomni,” a soft, southern voice whispered into her ear. “Pomni can you hear me?”
The brown-haired girl groaned, her breath felt like tar, the most unpleasant syrup out there.
”Ra-Ragathhhh?” She slurred tiredly. God she couldn’t speak, pathetic. Her nose was clogged ever so slightly with her own snot and he despised that feeling, god she hated it. And so soon after escaping too?
escaping the amazing digital circus. Because she was out. She was out. She was out. She was out. She would never go back again.
A laugh startled out of her, but it honestly sounded more like a sob.
”Pomni! You can hear me!?” The same southern voice exclaimed.
”mhmm..” Pomni opened her eyes again, it stung. She never learned did she?
”Sleep.” It said.
Pomni couldn’t help but oblige.
~-|……………………………..|-~
Pomni opened her eyes.
She was laying on a light, uncomfortable cot, her surroundings consisted mostly of white and grey. It was a huge difference to the colourful circus but the light. The white, it was far too bright.
She had to have some darkness, she closed her eyes again but did not fall asleep this time. Pomni felt around her surroundings recklessly, her hand brushed something and a loud CRASH! Could be heard. The girl cringed and quickly retracted her hand.
A sharp metallic smell shifted throughout the room and Pomni realised she was now bleeding.
Great. Just wonderful.
Pomni placed both her hands on either side of her hips and heaved herself up. This was clearly a terrible idea as she very quickly fell to the floor. Her headache, which so far had been refraining from bothering her so far returned at an unfair pace.
this was just getting worse and worse, wasn’t it. Eyes still firmly shut, Pomni wobbled to her feet, her knees felt so weak, as if someone could tap them and they would fall apart.
Certainly not well enough to carry a sixty kilogram woman. And yet somehow, against all odds they held steady. Shaking of course but working.
”Rrrrag,” Pomni rasped. She hadn’t realised how difficult it felt to speak, mostly because she had refrained from doing so for now. Her voice was a feeble sound now, if you stood right next to her you wouldn’t be able to hear it.
Where even was Pomni? And why was it so BLOODY WHITE EVERYWHERE. The short brunette sighed frustratedly and held her fist against some sort of squishy surface.
It felt weird, of course, but Pomni was grateful there was just something to take her. A confused chuckle was laughed right next to her and she jerked away.
or tried to, the person held onto her. Because she had been leaning on a person.
how embarrassing could this get!?
”Hey Pomni, what are you doing out of bed?” A familiar voice asked.
Pomni squinted her eyes so they were open, but only a sliver, she was met with a kind looking redhead, with dull eyes.
they had a sparkle though, Pomni found it cute. One eye seemed almost white while the other was a light hazel. The woman she was staring at was smiling at her, but she looked…sad?
As if she had found a dying dog, and was giving it one more grace.
Then it rushed back to Pomni.
”…Ragatha?”