Chapter Text
Sleep wasn’t necessary in the circus, but lately it was one of the few things bringing any sort of comfort to Pomni. With the new rules of the circus, and Caine dropping his control, the humans had regained the ability to dream. Pomni very quickly learned that in her dreams she could be with them again, going on adventures; Spending time together, just existing.
Lately, she could only do that with the beast, the monster, the abstraction that hid her best friend in its crude and jagged body. After Jax abstracted, the humans fought to lead their new form into a dark tent, where it could be calm and comfortable.
In fact, that’s where Pomni was laid now. To her right sits the beast in question, its eyes closed as it rests. She liked to watch it sleep, as weird as that sounded– It showed her that somewhere, inside this new shape, they were still alive. And even though communication from the abstraction was limited, it was still Jax.
When Pomni started to learn how to play the piano, she would do it in the tent. However, when she would fumble, the abstraction would lift one of its jagged limbs and prod her, or would even cover its own ‘head’, as if blocking the sound. When she would play correctly, it would sit carefully and listen, with all of its colorful, vibrant eyes fixated on her and her movements. She decided early into playing the piano that it wasn’t a skill she wanted to conjure, it’s something she wanted to take her time with and learn herself.
She might as well spend her eternity doing things she could enjoy. Things that would keep Jax alive.
“Pomni?”
Pomni squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she stirred awake, the sound of her name dragging her from a nap. “Mmm..?” Forcing her eyes to open, Pomni is greeted by the smiling mask of her fellow human-turned-avatar, Gangle.
“Zooble and I were going to go with Ragatha to the ranch… She wanted to invite you,” Gangle explains, one of her ribbon hands moving up to her face idly as she did. “She wanted to know if you wanted to go see Lee.”
Wasting no time, Pomni brought herself to her feet. “Definitely. Thanks for coming to get me,”
After Caine opened the worlds up, Ragatha requested a ranch where she could raise and race horses. After the gang arrived in that world for the first time, Pomni met a horse with a black coat and a shaggy mane to match– It reminded her of Jax’s human form, Leeroy Mateo, of whom she had memorized the features of in a short presentation put on by Caine. She named it Lee in their honor, with the hope that maybe the real Jax was doing better than hers.
As the two headed past the stage and towards the oval-shaped portal where Zooble and Ragatha were standing, the four heard an all too familiar cartoonish ‘pop’ followed by a hard impact. Instantly, they turned their attention to the stage, where a small shape lay, having fallen hard on its back. Gangle gasped, her small ribbon hands moving to her mouth in shock.
“Someone new?” Ragatha immediately knew what was going on. Pomni blinked, registering the situation and what this meant.
A new human– She’s no longer the newbie.
The group rushes the stage, Pomni straggling behind due to her height, where the small shape has now sat up and given a pained groan. She watches as Zooble and Ragatha climb onto the stage, offering their hands to this new character. Pomni can’t hear exactly what’s being said past the sound of rushing water in her ears and the tightening in her chest. She remembers what happened, in Jax’s memories, after Ribbit abstracted and Gangle appeared. The topic, the mere memory of Ribbit, was seemingly dropped.
Would everyone move on from Jax? Is that it? Did *she* have to move on?