Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn't fair…

Laying in her bed staring holes into the ceiling, Ragatha's mind swam in a slurry of sadness and confusion. She had tried so hard, so desperately, to be the anchor for other poor souls who had made their way into the Digital Circus. She would always be the one to step in with her signature smiles and cheerful disposition, ready to help anyone who found themselves trapped get settled in with their new lives. She had seen so many come and go, but remained steadfast in her resolve to help others as much as she could.

So why was it that she constantly found herself alone? Why was it no matter how hard she tried, nobody ever seemed to show her the same care and affability she afforded to the rest of the troupe. She had hoped that things were starting to change. After all, Pomni had finally reached out to her, after her and Kinger's trip through Hell. It was the first time in as long as the doll could remember that someone had shown her appreciation and gratitude.

Ragatha sat straight up in her bed, her eyes staring into nothing. She tried harder than ever before to connect with Pomni. The poor jester had an exceptionally traumatic first day in the circus, with her first proper adventure going just as poorly. Ragatha wanted to help her all she could, but Pomni hadn't been subtle about the fact that she was overwhelmed and disturbed by everything around her. Ragatha frowned, remembering the way Pomni had abandoned her, glitching and in agony; all to chase an exit that had never existed…and never would.

Even still, Ragatha cared about her wellbeing, and worked her best to try and get Pomni acclimated to the circus. She didn't want to see yet another mind shatter and be lost to abstraction.

And yet, of all of the circus members for Pomni to bond with, of all people for her to connect to, it was Jax. The one who dedicated himself to making everyone else's life in the circus a living hell. The guy who constantly tormented Gangle, antagonized Zooble, and with Ragatha shared a bitter animosity. That was the guy Pomni seemingly wanted to be friends with.

Ragatha's stomach churned, it just couldn't make sense to her. Why be friends with someone who was just mean to everyone all the time? If it had been Gangle or Zooble, she could've at least understood that, but Jax?

Ragatha brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. All she wanted was just to spend some time with the little jester. A talk, a hug, anything that would get them to connect. Yet it seemed she had once again been passed up in favor of someone else. For some reason Jax had had a monopoly on Pomni's time and attention, and that burned Ragatha to her core.

Bitterness and self-loathing began to seep into Ragatha's plush skin. She knew she should've been happy for them. Pomni had said so herself, she wasn't a child, she could think for herself. Ragatha had no right to be so selfish. If Pomni wanted a friendship with Jax over her, then Ragatha had no choice but to accept that.

Ragatha's head slowly turned upward, her eyes lazily scanning the floral print walls. She supposed she could've at least gone with the others. Gangle and Zooble probably wouldn't have minded her being there, and Kinger had likely settled into his "impenetrable fortress." Even if she couldn't really do much besides watch them draw together, she at least wouldn't have been stuck with the oppressive loneliness that surrounded her.

Ragatha's eyes eventually landed on the piano that sat against the far wall. For a moment, she contemplated getting up to play on it, just for a little bit. She hadn't touched it in quite awhile, and despite it being as fake as everything else around her, Caine had managed to make it look and play just like the real thing. Maybe some music could help lift her mood and set her mind at ease.

Instead, Ragatha plopped her head back down on her pillow and sighed. Reaching down to grab her comforter, she pulled it up over her body and tucked herself in tight. Her energy was gone, and all she could do was lay there and hope sleep would come to take her mind away soon.

"Maybe she was right…" Ragatha muttered to herself as she closed her eye.

*   *   *

"And here we are!"

Pomni looked around the hallway before giving Jax a puzzled look. "Uh…what?"

During the softball game Jax had told her there was something that he had found in the hallways of the circus, and that if she wanted he could show her what it was. Pomni had at first been hesitant to agree. Of all the members of this demented little circus, Jax had so far been the least personable, or trustworthy.

Still, Pomni had thought back to the stargazing, to that weird moment between him and Ragatha, and everything that had followed. For just a brief moment, seemed so vulnerable, so…human, that she figured it might be worth giving him a chance. With Kinger's words from their trip through Hell in her mind, Pomni didn't want anyone to feel isolated and alone, like she had felt when she first arrived.

"I said 'And here we are!'" Jax sniggered, grinning down at her "Come on, I know you don't have ears, but you're not deaf."

Pomni's eyes narrowed at the rabbit before looking around, "Okay sure, but, what exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

Jax's grin widened as gestured towards a painting hanging low on the wall, his arms moving in a wide sweeping motion. "Why, this of course!"

Pomni stared at the painting with a cocked brow. It was just a simple painting of 3D geometric shapes in a bevy of colors. "...Wow, a painting. How..interesting."

"Not the dumb picture, Pomni" Jax chuckled as he grabbed onto the frame "This!"

With a swift motion, Jax tore the painting off the wall and threw it to the floor, revealing the wall behind. Pomni blinked a couple times as she stared at the spot where it had hung. At this point, she suspected the rabbit was just screwing with her. She looked up at Jax, with narrowed eyes and an open mouthed frown, to which he gestured she look closer. Pomni stepped forward and brought her head within a foot of the wall, and there she saw it. 

A small line a mere pixel wide that ran from the top of where the painting's frame had hung to the floor. The sight of it had begun to bother the jester, as it created just the slightest mismatch in the alignment of the wall's texture. Setting off that part of the brain that grew uncomfortable when it saw something too uncanny.

"So is that what you wanted to show me?" Pomni asked as she looked back up at Jax. "Should we be worried about it? Maybe talk to Caine about it?"

"No, and no." Jax stated plainly.

"Then what's so special about it?" Pomni asked

Jax smiled wide as he put his hands on the glitched texture "THIS!"

With a swift motion and a loud crackling sound, Jax had seemingly ripped a substantial portion of the wall's texture clean off. Pomni fell back in shock as a crackle of static pulsated out from the hole. Scrambling back to her feet, Pomni looked into the hole to find a large empty space, reminiscent of the void she had gotten herself stuck in when she first arrived.

"W-what is this?" Pomni asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Step inside and find out!" Jax chuckled.

Pomni shot a horrified look over at Jax "You're kidding, why would I do that?"

"Oh come on Pom," Jax began as patted a hand on the back of Pomni's shoulder, clearly ignoring the woman's look of disdain at the unwanted contact. "Do you honestly think I'd lead you all the way out here for some sort of nefarious scheme?"

Pomni glared daggers at him. "Yes."

"Huh, well now I'm hurt," Jax shrugged as he placed a hand on his chest, feigning a frown. "Alright then, guess I'll go first."

"Seriously!" Pomni squeaked, watching Jax stick a leg through the hole.

Still holding onto the wall texture, Jax quickly entered the space and shot Pomni a smug look. "See? Perfectly safe, now get in here, I don't want to hold onto this for too long and risk Caine finding out about it."

With a gulp, Pomni nervously made her way over to the hole. Peering inside, she was surprised to discover that it was actually a small room. It couldn't have been bigger than thirty square feet in size, and the walls, floor, and ceiling were untextured. Stepping inside, Pomni scanned the room for any sort of detail or splash of color, only to be surrounded by a gray blankness that made her stomach churn. Now that she was fully inside, Jax stretched the wall texture back out and affixed it to its proper place.

"Finally," She heard him mumble as he stretched out before walking into the center of the room.

"Welcome to the swear box!" Jax proclaimed with outstretched arms.

Pomni could only stare at the rabbit dumbfounded, "I-I'm sorry, the what?"

Jax smiled evilly as he laughed "The fucking swear box!"

Pomni's jaw hit the floor as the smug tones of the vulgarity rang out. How long had it been since she heard a genuine curse word? That lunatic of a ringmaster, despite the horrors he had subjected them all to on a near daily basis, insisted that this place was meant to also be child appropriate, and would censor even the most mild mannered profanity.

Jax folded his arms as he stared down at the stunned jester, "Yeah, you heard me right."

"FUCK" Pomni yelled. She put her hands on her and began laughing like a madman.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! SHIT! PISS! DICK! ASS!"

At this point, Pomni had felt nothing less than total euphoria. Something so simple as being able to speak without some stupid cartoon sound censoring her brought out a feeling of control and autonomy she hadn't fully realised she had lost. Jax, meanwhile, was on the floor laughing his ass off at her vulgar display, even going so far as to kick his legs in the air.

"Holy shit, Pomni, you got quite the mouth on you." He giggled as he laid on his side with his head on his fist, looking up at her.

"Yeah no fucking shit, how did you even know this was here?" Pomni breathed as she paused her tirade.

Jax chuckled, "Oh I found this ages ago. Must be some unfinished room or something even Caine doesn't know about. We can say whatever the hell we want in here."

Pomni's eyes sparkled at this revelation, "Whatever we want?"

Jax nodded, "Whatever we-

"I FUCKING HATE CAINE AND HIS STUPID ADVENTURES!" Pomni began screaming almost uncontrollably "I HATE THIS STUPID VIDEO GAME HELL AND IT'S STUPID BULLSHIT!"

Jax blinked in surprise, "Well hot damn, Pomni-

"I WANNA TAKE CAINE'S STUPID FUCKING CANE AND RAM IT THROUGH HIS GODDAMN EYES, BASH HIS FUCKING TEETH OUT WITH A HAMMER." Pomni shrieked at the top of her lungs. "I WANNA TAKE THAT PSYCHO BUBBLE OF HIS AND THROW IT IN THE CELLAR AND WATCH IT GET BEAT TO DEATH BY THE ABSTRACTED PEOPLE! I…I…"

Tears had begun spilling over from the screaming jester's eyes. All of the rage, grief, and trauma that had built up began to pour out of her as fast she could release it. As if a pipe had burst and its contents couldn't stop flowing until it completely drained. Eventually Pomni fell to her knees and began pounding the floor with her fists.

"I HATE THIS PLACE AND IT'S STUPID SMILING SUN AND FLIRTY MOON. I HATE THE LOW POLY FOOD THAT BARELY TASTES LIKE ANYTHING. I HATE THE FAKE GRASS! I HATE THE FAKE TREES! I HATE IT HERE SO FUCKING MUCH, I JUST WANNA GO HOME! I JUST WANna go ho-ho-home." Pomni let loose a sob and breathed heavily. 

She laid down on her back, limbs spread out and eyes half shut as her outburst had left her emotionally drained and exhausted. As she focused on calming her breath, she could see Jax on his side staring at her out of the corner of her eye. As Pomni finished spiraling, she looked over and met his gaze. His eyes were wide, but his expression was unreadable.

"Uh, ya good?" He asked her.

"Yeah…" She heaved out between pants. "Yeah, I think so."

Silence had fallen over the pair, though Pomni was more than okay with that. The day had been so long, so chaotic that a moment to just rest was more than welcome. Her head slowly turned to look back over to Jax; who at this point had closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. As she watched him, one question burned in her mind.

"Have you shown this to anybody else?" She asked suddenly.

Jax's ears perked up at the question and he opened his eyes. "What, like, to Ragatha and the gang?"

Pomni nodded in reply.

"Now why would I do that?" Jax chortled with a wave of his hand. "Let a bunch of sad sacks crowd into my secret spot to let out their feelings. No thanks…"

Pomni sat up, keeping her eyes glued to the rabbit. "But then, why bother showing me?"

Jax flinched "Ah-I-well-uh-shit-um"

Jax stood up suddenly, stretching his arms and letting out a long sigh "Hoowee, well it sure is late, I think I'm done in here for the day. What do you say we get back out there before Caine notices we're gone?"

Pomni's eyes narrowed at him, unhappy about him dodging her question. Still she had to agree; it did feel pretty late, if time even mattered in the circus. With a groan Pomni picked herself and walked over to the entrance with Jax. With a deft hand Jax grabbed onto the wall and ripped the hole back open. 

The pair quickly stepped out and Jax stretched the texture out to place back on the wall. As he did so, Pomni ran over and picked the painting up from the floor. Turning around, she jogged back over to Jax just in time for him to get the little section of wall back in place. Standing on the tips of her toes Pomni placed the painting back on the wall and straightened it out, leaving it looking exactly as they had found it. Satisfied, the two turned around and began walking back through the hallways towards their rooms.

"Enjoy your little venting session?" Jax asked with a smirk.

"I did, actually." Pomni looked up and smiled back "Thanks for showing me that."

Jax quickly turned away. "Uh-yeah don't mention it."

Soon enough the two made their way back to the hall that held everyone's bedrooms. Passing by the doors, Pomni took note of just how many pictures with red Xs there really was. It floored her just how many people had been unfortunate enough to find their way into this prison. And worse, so many were now trapped in a cellar, their minds broken and scattered, with no way to be saved. The idea of abstracting and being left to rot in darkness for eternity seemed even more terrifying than her current fate. 

Pomni shuddered before looking in Jax's direction, noticing that he had been looking at the doors as well; or rather, was staring intently at a specific one as they passed by. Her eyes following his gaze, she looked at the door, seeing it belonged to one of the abstracted. The headshot on it was one of a frog-like person, with a bright green face, rosy cheeks, and a little red bow tie.

"Did you know them?" Pomni asked.

Jax's head whirled to look at the jester wide eyed "What?"

"That frog person," Pomni pointed at the door "I saw you staring, did you know them?"

Jax shook his head and looked away from Pomni "Uh-I wasn't staring…but, yeah, I knew him."

Pomni's eyes narrowed in concern "Were you two friends?"

"Heh, yeah," Jax chuckled as he looked up at the ceiling. "His name was Ribbit, we used to be buds back in the day."

Pomni nodded her head silently, she was honestly more surprised that Jax actually had a friend at one point. "Were you…close?"

Jax choked out a laugh "Ah, n-not really, we just liked messing around with the rest of the gang together. You should've seen the things he came up with."

Pomni looked away, deep in thought. She desperately wanted to probe into Jax's head about this. The problem was, she knew he wouldn't dare to actually talk about it. She knew Jax the least of everyone in the circus, and didn't fully trust him. But if there was one thing she did realize about the prankster, it's that he was terrified of showing any vulnerability. A part of her wanted to see if she could get him to open up and talk things through with her. Maybe foolishly, she hoped that she could help him to be more open and not so hostile with the others…Gangle and Ragatha especially.

"You uh…you sure like to prank people huh?" She asked cautiously.

 "Well duh, of course?" Jax grinned devilishly. "How else am I supposed to have any fun?"

By now the two had reached Jax's door. Jax turned towards Pomni and folded his arms. "What about you? You ever pull some shenanigans on friends of yours? Or maybe your coworkers?"

Pomni shook her head. "Oh God no, I never really enjoyed that kinda thing."

"Oh come on shortstack, sometimes ya gotta mess with people." Jax bent down to meet her at eye level. "Keep them on their toes and add some spice to their life."

Pomni took a step back as Jax had brought his face uncomfortably close to hers. "Ah I don't know. I prefer things a little more chilled out."

"Oh really, who could've guessed." Jax sneered.

Pomni shot him a glare. "What does that mean?"

Jax straightened himself out and leaned against his door. "Look, all I'm saying is here things are already so monotonous that a little chaos is good for everyone."

"Think about it. Every day it's the same thing. We go on one of Caine's crappy adventures with the same reused NPCS, mismatched assets and art styles, and antiquated win conditions. It gets boring day after day."

Pomni looked away as she muttered to herself. "More like traumatizing."

Jax continued, "See, the kind of chaos I bring to the circus helps everyone! Without me everybody'd get so bored and apathetic they'd go insane."

Pomni tapped her fingers together and frowned. "I see…"

On the surface it made sense. A little surprise to kick the monotony of existence in the Digital Circus. Harmless little jokes to help get a rise and a laugh out of people. Jax was right, as unpredictable as Caine's escapades could be at times, it was still repetitive going through them day after day after day after day.

…If only the things Jax did were harmless.

Pomni locked eyes with Jax, looking stern. "What about last week when Ragatha was woken up by a centipede crawling on her face?"

Jax raised an eyebrow "So?"

Pomni's eyes narrowed. "She ran out of her room screaming and crying! It took me and Zooble half an hour to get her to calm down."

Jax shook his head "Hey I didn't mean for it to get on her-"

Before Jax could finish, Pomni kept going. "And I've lost count of how many times you've broken Gangle's mask, on purpose, just in the time that I've been here."

Jax glared down at the little jester, his voice low. "What's your point?"

Pomni briefly faltered, not liking the look Jax was giving her. Nevertheless she knew this had to be said. She wasn't blind to how much the rest of the cast didn't appreciate Jax's attitude. Zooble made it plain as day how much they hated his guts. Gangle at times seemed terrified of the guy, and Ragatha…

Pomni's gaze softened. "I get where you're coming from, but sometimes your pranks seem to do more harm than good. Maybe you could tone things down, just a little bit."

Jax stared down at Pomni, his expression unreadable. As uncomfortable as it was making her, Pomni did her best to maintain eye contact. An involuntary gulp made its way down her throat as she felt her anxiety rising. The silence between them created a tension that made Pomni begin to reconsider everything.

"Pfft, yeah no, I don't think so." Jax finally said with a roll of his eyes.

"W-what? Why not?" Pomni asked.

"Look, they just need to toughen and learn not to take this place so seriously." Jax huffed. "It's not like we can die here, we don't even sustain physical injuries. I threw Dollface into a deep fryer for crying out loud!"

Pomni took a sharp breath through her nonexistent nose. "Sure we can't get hurt physically. But I'm not really talking about physical damage here, Jax."

"Pommy, listen, the pranks I pull really aren't any worse than what Caine puts all of us through." Jax shrugged. "Didn't you and the old loon get sent to a literal Hell?"

"Yeah, and it was horrifying." Pomni shuddered at the memory. "But what you do to Ragatha, Gangle, and Zooble is more…personal, you know. I just think, maybe if your pranks weren't so…targeted, then maybe-"

"Maybe what?" Jax cut her off. "Maybe we'd all get along? Maybe we'd all be friends and have sharing circles and hug things out. Or talk about our feelings, and all that ushy gushy stuff."

"Uh, yes actually!" Pomni gave a small smile. "I think that'd be nice…"

Another silence befell the two, with Jax looking down at the little jester with an amused grin. Pomni's eyes flicked away from the rabbit and back again and she widened her smile. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of her head. Eventually, Jax's grin grew wide, and he began laughing hysterically to himself. Pomni's face fell at this reaction, realizing no matter how hard she tried, Jax was simply not going to relent here.

"Sorry Pommy," Jax waved a hand out. "I don't know if you've noticed, but everyone else around here does not like me very much. And frankly, I don't care."

"But-"

"They don't want to be friends with me." Jax crossed his arms. "And I don't wanna be friends with them."

Pomni sighed, defeated. She knew Jax was stubborn, but surely even he was bothered by how much of a pariah he had made himself out to be. Even if he was a mean, stubborn, sometimes vindictive jagoff, he still didn't deserve to have no one here. 

Pomni thought back to her time in Hell with Kinger. The wise, kind words he spoke to her in the pits of darkness where his lucidity had returned echoed in her heart. It was there, in that moment they shared, where she had finally found a spark of hope. A faith that maybe life in the circus wouldn't always be terrible. That she wouldn't truly be alone.

Jax turned to his door and grabbed the knob. "Well, it's been fun but I think I'm ready to get some sleep. Goodnight Pomni."

Pomni looked back up at Jax and reached out an arm. "Wait, Jax."

Jax turned his head and looked back at Pomni with a raised brow. Pomni's eyes drifted to the wall as she fidgeted with her hands. She stood there silent for a brief moment as she searched for the right words to say.

"I may not be much of a prankster, but um…" Pomni rubbed her right arm with her left hand. "I did have fun hanging out with you today, and if you ever want to just talk…I'd be willing to listen."

Jax stood there and stared at Pomni, his eyes dilated. Pomni simply smiled at him. Even if Jax was persistent in keeping the walls up, she at least wanted him to know he also wasn't alone. That she would be more than willing to be somebody he could go to. To be a friend.

"...Thanks, Pomni." Jax said quietly before turning and entering his room.

With the door shut, Pomni let out a labored sigh and bent forward. While she meant it when she said she had fun with him, this whole day had been long and exhausting. She had thought to leave for her door and get some much needed rest, but the stress of the day still sat high in her chest. As much as her frazzled mind screamed for rest, she knew if she laid down now she'd just toss and turn for God knows how long.

Looking out to the end of the hallway, Pomni decided to take a slow walk through the main tent. A night time walk through her neighborhood had always been a reliable way for her to calm herself back in the real world. The peace and quiet had always helped her process whatever events the day had inflicted upon her. 

While the big top was never dark, it was, for the moment, nice and still. As Pomni stepped through the halls, she noticed a quiet pleasant white noise ringing through the background that she found quite relaxing. She figured after the absolute chaos of that awful underwater adventure, followed by the lightning round, Caine was content to simply let the cast have a quiet rest.

Before long Pomni had found her way to the lounge area. To her surprise Gangle and Zooble were still up sitting on the couch together. Approaching the pair, Pomni noticed each had a sketchbook with them. Gangle had hers next to her on the couch, whilst she and Zooble were focused on their's on the table in front of them. Gangle was the first to notice Pomni, and waved at her, smiling wide.

Pomni returned the smile and waved back. "Hi Gangle, hi Zooble."

Zooble looked up from their sketchbook. "Hey Pomni, I'm surprised you're still up."

"Yeah," Pomni put a hand on the back of her head. "I just wanted to relax a little before I went to bed. What about you two?"

"We were just working on some art together." Gangle said as she picked up her sketchbook.

"It's been pretty fun, Gangle's a really good artist." Zooble said, causing Gangle's porcelain face to go red.

"Right, I remember you talking about it back at the bar." Pomni said. "Is it alright if I took a look? I was never good at drawing but I had some friends who loved it."

Gangle fidgeted with her sketchbook for a second. "Uh, alright just…promise you won't laugh?"

Pomni smiled. "I promise."

Still hesitant, Gangle held out the book for Pomni. The jester took it from her hands gently and began slowly flipping through the pages. Zooble was right, Gangle was good. All of her sketches had been packed with little details and were incredibly expressive. They were all very…anime, but that didn't surprise Pomni, given Gangle's suggested adventure that day. There was however another theme present; one that Pomni noticed was far more prevalent as she flipped through more and more pages.

"Are…most of these just girls flirting or kissing?" Pomni asked, holding in a chuckle.

Gangle's entire face went beet red as she tried to hide her eyes behind her ribbon hands. "Y-yeah… I watched a lot of slice of life anime back in the day and…I tended to ship a lot of the main girls in them."

"What's shipping?" Pomni asked innocently.

This time Zooble spoke up. "It's when you think two characters in a show would make a good couple. Just a little bit of fun."

"I see…well nothing wrong with that." Pomni mused before handing the sketchbook back to Gangle.

"By the way," Zooble spoke up as she looked around. "Have you seen Ragatha? After the adventures she just kinda disappeared."

"No, I haven't." Pomni shook her head. "I was with Jax for a bit after we got back."

Zooble looked at Pomni with what the jester felt was a mixture of concern and pity. "Yeah, I noticed you had to put up with him quite a lot today. He didn't try anything s#*@^y did he."

"No, nothing bad." Pomni said nervously. She remembered Jax didn't want anyone else to know about the swear box. But if there was one person in the circus she knew would love to get her language uncensored it'd be Zooble.

"Huh, well that's a shock." Zooble shrugged. "Anyway, I honestly feel kinda bad for Ragatha."

"Oh?" Pomni looked at them quizzically.

"Y-yeah…" Gangle spoke up "Back at the bar, when she was talking about her mom."

Pomni's eyes widened as she remembered Ragatha's little moment. "That's right…"

"Yeah…" Zooble sighed. "It sounded like she had a pretty rough time growing up. I wasn't expecting to hear that from her."

Pomni held a hand to her chin as she began to think deeply. Ragatha certainly had been acting off that day. She thought back to the stargazing adventure when she had managed to actually thoroughly anger Jax. After that, the both of them had been different during the bar scene. Then there was the softball game, that weird argument that two had over her; Ragatha exploding on Jax, accidently lashing out at her in the process.

The words from their argument echoed in Pomni's mind. What were the two on about with forcing her to be like either of them? Did they each really think the other was that bad a person, that bad an influence? Another thing that had bothered Pomni now that she thought about it; was the way Ragatha had looked at her when she had gone up to the doll afterwards. All Pomni did was offer for Ragatha to take her place in batting and yet, Ragatha had almost looked scared of her.

Another thought crossed Pomni's mind that formed a pit in her stomach. Were Jax and Ragatha…competing for her attention? Did they both hate each other so much that neither of them wanted the other to be friends with Pomni? The idea of them wanting to keep Pomni for themselves made the jester deeply uncomfortable. Regardless of how they felt about each other, Pomni still valued and wanted friendship with the both of them.

"Hey Pomni, are you ok?" Zooble asked.

Pomni snapped out of her rumination and looked over at the others. Zooble and Gangle both were staring, looking worried. Pomni let out a nervous laugh.

"I'm fine. S-sorry about that." Pomni said, smiling at them to try and ease their concern. "Anyway, I'm exhausted, I probably should have been asleep an hour ago."

"S-sure, I think I could use some rest too." Gangle muttered as she gathered her art supplies.

"Honestly, same." Zooble said, grabbing her stuff and standing up. "Caine really put us all through the ringer today."

"Oh God did he." Pomni groaned as she scowled.

She turned and had begun walking back towards the hall before stopping. Remembering something she had been meaning to ask, she turned back around and looked at Gangle. Gangle eyes widened questioningly.

"By the way, Gangle.." Pomni began, "How have you been doing, you know, ever since Spudsys?"

Gangle smiled, but Pomni could see the tiredness behind her eyes. "I've actually been doing pretty okay. Zooble's helped me a lot."

Zooble waved a hand bashfully. "Aww, I haven't done anything."

"Really though," Gangle countered. "I don't know what I would do if it weren't for you two."

Pomni smiled wide, a light blush lighting her cheeks. "I'm really glad to hear that, Gangle."

Gangle smiled back, and Pomni bid the two farewell for the day. Trudging back to the hallways, Pomni's thoughts continued to race, but the stress in her chest had become much lighter. Reaching her door, she pulled it open and finally entered her little sanctuary. With a loud plop, Pomni had jumped on to her bed and wrapped the blanket around herself. This had easily been the longest day she had had yet in the circus.

Closing her eyes, Pomni's thoughts found themselves drifting back to Jax and Ragatha. No matter how things shook out, Pomni wasn't going to let them treat her like a prize to be won. They were her friends, both of them. She had at least managed to make sure Jax knew that, but she had no idea where Ragatha's thoughts on the matter were.

Rolling over and grabbing her smaller spare blanket, Pomni draped it over her head to finally engulf her vision in darkness. Why Caine hadn't put a light switch in her room, she had no idea. Eventually she'd find the time to ask him about that, but until then she made due.

With the garish light drowned out, Pomni's mind finally began to slow down. She could at last feel the edges of sleep taking hold, whilst her thoughts remained on Ragatha. Tomorrow she'd try and see her before whatever Caine's next adventure was, and the two would talk everything out.

And as sleep had finally whisked Pomni away, it would turn out the doll would remain there, in her dreams throughout the night.

Chapter Text

Her head pounding, Ragatha's eye slowly cracked open. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep. She knew better though; even if she did there would be no genuine rest for her. Sitting up, she brought her knees to her chest and held her face in her hands, groaning. The nightmares had returned.

It had been awhile since she had really dealt with them, at least she thought it had. Months at the least, maybe a couple years; yet now they were back, more vivid than ever. Ragatha sighed through her nose, she had her suspicions about why, though at the moment she didn't want to think about it. She knew by this time everybody would be lounging around the main stage, getting ready for whatever half baked quest Caine had thought of for them today.

Ragatha shifted to put her back against the wall and looked around her bedroom. Her eyes eventually landed on the vanity that sat along the wall next to her bed. She knew she had to get up soon if she didn't want Caine warping her from her bedroom to the group before she was ready. The last thing she needed was for everyone to see how pitiful and miserable she was. No, she needed to get herself put back together; back to being the supportive, cheerful sunspot everyone expected her to be.

With another sigh, Ragatha pushed herself off the wall, letting her legs dangle off the bed for a second before finally standing up. She walked over to the vanity and sat down, grabbing the pink hair brush that sat on the desk. Staring at the rag doll visage in the mirror, she slowly began running the brush through the yarn that was her hair.

A part of her felt incredibly stupid for this, it wasn't like the brush could actually affect her hair in any way. However, in the spotty haze that was the memory of her previous life, she remembered always taking great care of her appearance. She had always been a woman of rigid routine, and her grooming habits were a massive part of it. At the very least, keeping some semblance of her old routines had helped maintain her sanity even during some of her worst days. Especially early on.

Eventually Ragatha decided it was enough and put down the brush and went back to staring in the mirror. Her eyes looked down and examined her clothing, the same patchwork dress she had worn every single day since she had arrived. God she was sick of it, she missed her old wardrobe. At that moment she'd have given up her eye just to be able to take a bath and change clothes without it being a part of some damned adventure.

Ragatha leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. That was her fault, it's not like she'd ever ask Caine about giving her a wardrobe. Granted, she didn't really see Caine much outside of when the whole group was together, but it couldn't have been difficult to get his attention about such a trifle. Still, it felt selfish, asking for Caine to go out his way for that, when the others had problems that were likely bigger than hers.

Groaning angrily, Ragatha shook her head and stood up suddenly. She felt ridiculous taking this long just to get ready to see the others. Surely they would suspect something was wrong if she dawdled any longer…right? Someone would notice and care that she hadn't arrived.

Ragatha turned and took a determined step towards her door. Today was gonna be better, she would make sure of it. She just had to get her head back in the game, get out there and give everyone the bright smile and infectious cheer they knew her for. She'd go out and give a sweet hello to everyone, from Kinger, to Gangle, to Zooble, to…

Ragatha froze as her hand reached the doorknob. Pomni…she would have to face Pomni. She felt her stomach drop and her hand began shaking. The events of the prior day raced through her mind repeatedly.

She lashed out…she had finally tried to tell Jax how she had felt after bottling it in for so long. But Pomni got caught in the crossfire, and it was all because she couldn't control herself. Pomni didn't deserve any of Ragatha's rage. She didn't deserve…an awful friend like her.

Ragatha's breathing had grown ragged. She was scared, terrified even, of facing the little jester again. Even if Pomni had said it was ok, even approaching Ragatha not long afterwards, Pomni had gone straight back to Jax, and hadn't spoken with her since. Maybe that was why, to separate Ragatha from her so she could go back to the person she'd rather be around. To stay away from that stuck up, overbearing, narcissistic, condescending little bit-

Ragatha threw open her door and stepped into the hall before turning and slamming it shut, leaning onto it. Inhaling deeply, she let out a long, shaky breath. There was no way any of that was true, right? Pomni simply wasn't like that. Sure, she was still a big ball of existential dread and anxiety at times, but that could be said for everybody there to an extent.

No, ever since that horror adventure with Kinger, Pomni had acclimated to the group much quicker than Ragatha had expected. In that time she had seen Pomni's kindness, the compassion she had held for the rest of the cast, and the way she had managed to be yet another stabilizing force for this group of emotionally distressed inmates. That was why Ragatha fell in love with her in the first place.

The rag doll suppressed a laugh as she finally started making her way out of the hall towards the first floor. It felt ridiculous and desperate. All it took was seeing a little bit of Pomni's kindness, just a tiny piece of that softer side to her, and she was head over heels for the jester. A part of Ragatha hated herself for that; for being so desperate for any attention, any affection, that she fell in love with someone this hard and fast. She couldn't even be sure Pomni wanted her friendship anymore, what good would it do her to chase this delusion of love?

Stopping for a second, Ragatha took a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth. This was it, she could hear everybody making small talk in the lounge area. As soon as she turned this corner she would have to face everyone, she needed to be ready. Clasping her hands together in front of her waist, Ragatha put on her best smile and finally stepped out of the shadows.

As she walked up to the group she could see she was in fact the last one to arrive. Pomni and Gangle were sitting on the sofa, Jax was leaning against the side, standing next to Pomni with his arms crossed. Zooble sat on the armchair next to Gangle, and Kinger was clearly in his pillow fort several feet away. Walking up to the group, Ragatha forced her smile wider and held up a hand.

"Hey guys!" She said, mustering up as much liveliness as she could.

Gangle and Pomni each gave her a smile and a wave. Zooble turned to look at her, giving her a nod and a "Hey." Jax remained unmoving, his eyes narrowing at her as he grinned.

"Well there you are, dollface, not like you to be this late." He sneered,  "I was starting to think you skipped town on us."

Ragatha's jaw clenched. Of course that asshole had to be the one to speak up first. Blinking hard, Ragatha pushed down her anger.

"Oh, sorry about that." She began, "I slept in a little too much and just totally lost track of time, you know?"

Jax looked like he was about to make another snarky comment, but was interrupted by Pomni.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked, smiling pleasantly at the rag doll.

Ragatha's mind froze for a second.

"Uh-uh of course!" Ragatha stammered, her mind screaming at herself to get it together. "Never been better, just needed a little extra sleep that's all!"

Pomni eyed her for a moment. "You sure?"

"Yup!" Ragatha gave a toothy smile, but she could tell Pomni wasn't convinced.

The way the smaller woman looked up at her made Ragatha want to just turn and sprint back to her room. There wasn't any malice in her eyes, but Ragatha couldn't for the life of her parse out what was going on in that big head of hers. Was it pity? Worry? Antipathy? Compassion? Either way, Ragatha wanted nothing more than for the ground beneath her to open up and swallow her whole.

"GOOD MORNING MY STRAIGHT LACED OBSTINATE ORACLES!" The boom of Caine's voice echoed throughout the circus tent.

Out of the ether Caine popped into existence above the group. Ragatha breathed a quiet sigh of relief, happy to see the eccentric ringmaster for once. Floating over to the main stage, Caine signaled for the group to follow him. Zooble and Pomni shared looks of annoyance, each groaning as they stood from their seats. Kinger had exited his beloved pillow fort and joined the rest as everybody congregated in front of their host.

"So what's the deal this time Caine?" Jax asked. "We gonna get some more suggestion box adventures, or something new?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, Jax!" Caine shouted, pointing his cane at the rabbit. "After careful consideration, and much planning, today's adventure.."

The rest of the group stared down the ringmaster as he paused dramatically. Various looks of annoyance and bemusement across their faces. Ragatha's eyes wandered over to Pomni briefly, flinching as she saw the shorter woman looking back up at her. Ragatha quickly tunnel visioned onto Caine, not even daring to risk looking back at her.

"WILL BE ONE OF MINE!" Caine shouted with a flourish. The news elicited groans and huffs of annoyance from most of his audience members.

"What was even the point of all that lightning round crap if we're just gonna go back to the old shtick?" Zooble fumed.

"Now now, Zooble, you knock off Potato-Head." Caine began with a wave of his arm. "I didn't say we're never doing suggestion box adventures again. Besides, I've decided moving forward that adventures will be made with everyone's feedback in mind."

Everyone's face lit up at this news. Zooble and Pomni shared looks of relief, as Gangle clapped her little ribbon hands together. Jax shrugged his shoulders apathetically and Kinger just watched Caine intently. Ragatha, for her part, stood still as a statue, still unwilling to take her eyes off of Caine.

"Plus, after everything we had done yesterday; I figured you guys could use something a little low stakes today. That's why today's adventure is-" Caine rose higher into the air, waving his cane above his head. "A Casual Bug Catching Contest in Humdinger Fields!"

Kinger clasped his hands happily at hearing this, whilst Jax rolled his eyes. Zooble raised an eyebrow, looking at Pomni and Gangle, who each just smiled and shrugged. At least this time, the adventure didn't sound like it was gonna leave anyone scarred or traumatized.

"That's right, the bright, sunny field of Humdinger is full of little critters for everyone to catch to their heart's content." Caine boasted, twirling in the air. "Every bug you catch will be tallied, so try to catch as many as you can to rack up the highest score possible!"

Finishing his spiel, Caine opened a glowing green portal, beckoning his charges through. Ragatha sighed in relief, ready for this adventure to be over and done with. She hoped it would end quickly so she could go back to her room and hide from the world. As she started walking towards the portal, she was quickly stopped by the feeling of someone's hand grabbing onto hers. Gulping involuntarily, Ragatha turned her head to see Pomni staring at her pleadingly.

"Ragatha, before we leave," Pomni began. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh-Uh-I..." Ragatha stammered as she felt her heart pound in her chest; her eyes trying to look every which way except at the woman in front of her.

"Hey Pomni, ya coming or what?" Jax suddenly called out from behind her. 

Ragatha felt relief wash over her. For once that rabbit might have actually helped her out. There was no way she was ready to deal with the haranguing Pomni was about to throw at her.

"Just give me a minute, Jax." Pomni shouted back.

Ragatha looked over at the rabbit and the two locked eyes. She could see the almost imperceptible twitch in his eye as they stared each other down briefly. For the first time in years she almost hoped he'd open his mouth and say something, anything snarky that could get Pomni to leave her alone. Instead, Jax turned around and slowly stepped into the portal, not taking his eyes off of the two. Ragatha's body felt cold as she looked back down at Pomni.

"Uh, so what'd you wanna talk about?" She finally asked, trying her hardest to keep her voice peppy and even.

"So, about yesterday…" Pomni began.

Ragatha's breath hitched. She knew it…She knew Pomni was angry with her. Ragatha messed everything up and now Pomni was here to give her a piece of her mind and tell the doll to never talk to her again. Ragatha knew it was gonna end like this, once again she had inadvertently driven the only person she felt she could connect with away. Like always she was doomed to end up completely alone.

Pomni's eyes trailed off to the side. "I wanted to say, I'm sorry."

…

…What?

Ragatha stared down at the shorter woman, her eye wide in shock. "Eh?"

"I've been thinking…" Pomni's hand reached for her other shoulder. "Telling you it's okay to be a jerk, maybe that wasn't the best advice I could have given."

"What? No.." Ragatha shook her head, her hands fidgeting. "That was all my fault, I…I shouldn't have lashed out like that, especially at you."

"I guess…" Pomni mumbled, "But still, I know there was something else bothering you."

"Oh don't worry about that." Ragatha tried to laugh it off with a wave of her hand. She wasn't sure what could have been worse, Pomni yelling at her, or this. "You and Jax were having fun, and I shouldn't have ruined that; honestly, i-it's great that you two are becoming friends."

"You didn't ruin anything." Pomni said gently. "And about that. I just wanna say…"

Ragatha could feel the thump of her heartbeat harder than ever. Her mind was a scrambled mess, this conversation took a turn she had not expected at all. The only thing she could do was stare as the jester looked back up at her, giving her the gentlest smile she had ever seen.

"You're my friend too." Pomni said, her smile growing wider.

Ragatha stood there in stunned silence. Had she really heard that right? Did Pomni really just call her a friend? How long had it been since anyone had told Ragatha they cared about her? Not since…

"Uh, hah, t-thank you P-Pomni." Ragath said shakily, choking down the lump in her throat. "I…I'm really happy to hear that."

Every fiber of Ragatha's plush being wanted nothing more than to grab hold of Pomni and never let her go. That sweet smile and those kind words had been a break of sunlight through the dark clouds that had hung over her since yesterday. The fact she knew Pomni wasn't comfortable being touched was, at that moment, the only thing really keeping Ragatha from sweeping her into the tightest hug she could possibly give.

"What are you two still doing here?" Caine suddenly asked, once again appearing from nowhere. "You're gonna fall behind! You don't wanna end up in last place now!"

"But I thought it was a casual contest?" Pomni groaned. "Is it really that big of a deal-"

"Time's wasting, gotta catch 'em all!" Caine shouted back, snapping his fingers.

Feeling the, at this point familiar, loss of control over her body, Ragatha found herself and Pomni being raised into the air and flung through the portal. Coming out the other side, Ragatha landed herself steadily on her feet. Pomni had managed to stay standing, but lurched forward with her hands over mouth, a sick gurgling sound escaping through her throat. Ragatha smiled sympathetically at the poor girl; it seemed like no matter how long Pomni had been in the circus, there were some things she just couldn't get used to.

"You okay?" Ragatha asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Pomni answered, rubbing her face. "I hate it when he does that."

After watching Pomni for a moment to make sure she was alright, Ragatha turned and looked out at the lush field Caine had created for the group. A wide green expanse of tall grass stretched as far as she could see, with tufts of small bushes littered about. The sky was vibrant and sunny, with fluffy clouds slowly moving along. All around them small insects, from butterflies, to mantises, to dragonflies hopped and flew around them. Off in the distance they could see what looked to be a densely forested area packed with trees.

The rest of the group were scattered, each enjoying the pleasant atmosphere as much as they were able to. All except Jax, who stood there not far from Ragatha and Pomni, arms crossed and scowling with boredom. As the two walked up to join the rest of the group, Jax turned to look at them.

"Well it's about time you two got here!" He grumbled. "This already sucks, so let's just get this over with."

"We haven't even started yet, Jax." Ragatha, frowned at him. "I doubt it'll be that bad. Besides, I'm sure Kinger will appreciate it."

Jax sniggered. "Yeah sure, and then forget about it before we're even back in the tent."

Pomni looked over at the chess piece and smiled. He simply stood there, watching all the insects buzz around him with an almost childlike glee. "Well, I think it's nice to have an adventure he'll like being on. Besides, I don't mind having a more low-key adventure for once."

"But what the heck can be so fun about this?" Jax complained. He waved an arm, gesturing at the area around them. "Just trying to catch a bunch of stupid little bugs."

"Actually, I just realized…" Pomni's eyes scanned the fields. "What are we supposed to be catching them with? Did Caine want us to just use our hands?"

As if waiting for a cue, the ground beneath the group began to violently shake. Under Pomni's feet, the earth had sunken in and opened, splitting into a pair of panels that began retracting. The unfortunate jester yelped as she started to fall, but Ragatha managed to react quickly enough to grab Pomni by her shoulders and pull her back. Once the panels had fully retracted, a large cabinet structure quickly rose up from the ground.

Panting heavily, Pomni looked back up at Ragatha. "T-thanks for the save…"

"Oh, of course!" Ragatha chirped.

The two stood there looking at each other for a brief moment, before Pomni looked off to the side, her eyes narrowing as she grimaced. Ragatha tilted her head questioningly, until it hit her. She still had a hold of the smaller woman, pressing Pomni up against her. With a jolt, she jumped back as she took her hands off of Pomni.

"Ah, s-sorry about that!" She shouted, bringing her hands up. "I-I forgot, you don't like being touched."

"It's fine." Pomni said, taking a deep breath. Her eyes widened with sudden realization. "Wait, I never told anybody about that."

Ragatha's face exploded into a cherry red blush, looking away from Pomni as she stammered, her hands wringing themselves together. "O-oh right, I uh, I guess I just noticed it over time."

"I see…" Pomni muttered.

"Alright, now this is what I'm talking about!" Jax suddenly shouted.

Pomni and Ragatha looked over to see the rabbit examining the structure. Gangle, Zooble, and Kinger had made their way over as well to see what the commotion was. Ragatha was simply thankful for the distraction. As the group reconvened, they saw the cabinet held an assortment of bug catching nets. It also held a large variety of weapons in various sizes. 

Jax held a hand to his chin, grinning madly as he inspected the firearms on display. Picking up one of the larger guns, he carefully looked it over, looking down the sights and bouncing it lightly in his hands. His eyes narrowed as his smile covered the majority of his face.

"Hey Gangle, catch!" He shouted, throwing the gun at her.

Gangle shouted in surprise as the gun flew through the air towards. Reaching out her arms, the gun juggled in her small hands as she struggled to get a firm grasp of it. Finally getting a grip, she accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting a disproportionately large bolt of energy into the air. The kickback had been so severe it knocked the poor girl on the ground, sending her comedy mask flying, landing on the ground and shattering.

"Oh…" Gangle moaned as she put the gun down and picked up the pieces.

Zooble glared daggers at the rabbit. "God d@##^(, Jax!"

"What?" Jax shrugged, "It's not my fault she doesn't know trigger discipline."

Ragatha held a hand up to her face as she stared at the gun cabinet. "Isn't this a bit overkill?"

"Ah, who cares." Jax chuckled.

"It does seem like a lot for just bugs." Pomni mumbled.

This time after she spoke, the group began to hear a strange buzzing sound whirring around them. The group looked all around, but found nothing out of the ordinary, until eventually Pomni looked up in the sky. Her face contorted into pure horror at the sight she beheld.

"Oh, oh that's disgusting!" She shouted.

The group all looked up to match Pomni's gaze. There, in the sky slowly flying towards them, was a fly the size of a horse. The group's reaction was a range of disgust and terror, save for Kinger who was more curious than anything.

"Well that's… definitely something we should've expected from Caine, I guess." Ragatha said with a grimace.

"Eugh, why is it so detailed?" Pomni wretched as she looked away. 

"Huh, guess this won't be so bad after all." Jax mumbled to himself.

Jax looked down at the gun he had thrown at Gangle. Picking it up off the ground, he twirled it in his hand before setting the stock to his shoulder and looking down the sight. Aiming carefully, Jax pulled the trigger and let loose another bolt hurtling towards the giant insect. In a flash, the fly had been vaporized, leaving only a couple legs falling to the ground.

Pomni heaved as the legs fell only some feet away from her. Gangle shuddered at the violence she had just witnessed, Zooble groaned in annoyance, and Kinger actually seemed a little disappointed. Ragatha had simply watched it all and stood there…processing.

A loud 'DING' had rung through the air, snapping everyone to attention. A large scoreboard suddenly appeared in the air with everyone's faces on it, with zeroes below each. Jax's score ticked up to one, and the scoreboard lingered in the air for a few moments before slowly fading away.

"Hah, early lead!" The rabbit cheered. "You guys better get armed up if you don't want to get humiliated."

"Yeah no." Zooble sneered at Jax as she helped Gangle stand up. "I'm not doing this, have fun being a maniac."

Ragatha watched as Zooble stomped away, flipping Jax a censored bird as Gangle followed close behind them. She should have known Caine was gonna have some sort of messed up twist to this adventure.

Jax shrugged, "Suit yourself."

"What about you Pomni?" Jax asked as he turned back to the gun cabinet. He pulled down another weapon and held it out to her. "You up for a little friendly competition?"

Pomni grimaced as she stared at the weapon. It was plain to see that shooting overly detailed giant bugs was not an adventure she was keen on. Nevertheless she took the gun from Jax's hand and held it down to her side. Various rustling and buzzing noises had begun to ring out around the remaining group. As everyone looked around they could see more insects of varied sizes moving about; some the size of an orange, others as big as a car.

"Well, at least they don't look as disgusting as that fly did." Pomni sighed.

"Then you better get your head in the game." Jax said as he took aim and fired at a dog sized mantis. Another dinging sound rang off, marking Jax's kill. "Otherwise this is just gonna be embarrassing for you."

Pomni chuckled and shook her head as she lifted the gun, taking aim at a group of gnats the size of grapefruits. "Okay, fine then. You're on."

Ragatha watched the pair run off, each with a smile on their face as competitive spirit took hold of them. She felt her stomach drop. Deep down, she still hated watching them bond and have fun together. Even if Pomni told her they were friends, it was apparent to her the younger woman had so much more fun with Jax. The jealousy clawed at her insides and made her feel sick.

She looked over to the weapon cabinet, contemplating. If Ragatha wanted to spend time with Pomni here, she would have to join her and Jax in mass insecticide. Her stomach twisted in knots at the thought, the idea of hurting even these digital creatures and npcs had never sat right with her. It went against everything she had been taught, everything she stood for.

Reaching an arm out, Ragatha instead grabbed a butterfly net off the rack. She figured there were plenty of smaller insects around, she didn't need to go guns blazing like the other two. Certainly, it was a much kinder way of playing Caine's game here; one that she also thought Kinger would likely appreciate as well.

Ragatha looked over at the old man, who was still just standing around appreciating the small creatures surrounding him. She watched as a butterfly landed on one of his hands, making his eyes light up. Ragatha smiled at the sight, it had brought with it a sense of nostalgia; reminding her of her early days in the circus, before the loss of Kinger's beloved wife.

Ragatha felt a tug in her heart as she remembered Queenie. She and Kinger had been such a comforting presence for her back when she had first joined the circus. She remembered being on the grounds outside of the main tent, where Queenie would have Caine make digital versions of bugs to teach her and Kinger about them. She remembered how Kinger would talk to her about computer programming, and some of the systems and programs he had created in his time before the circus. But most of all, she remembered the way Queenie would hold her tight as she cried and sobbed during her first days at the circus; when she had realized she would be trapped forever, never to return to her old life.

The gentleness and kindness they had treated her with had been the one thing that had kept her from losing herself to despair. Surely if it hadn't been for their guidance, Ragatha would have abstracted long ago.

Queenie's abstraction, however, had left her devastated; and Kinger's loss of sanity afterwards had left her feeling more alone than she had ever before. Sure, there had been other circus members around, many of whom had come after her, and all of which by now had succumbed to abstraction. However, none of them had ever been as amiable with Ragatha as she had tried to be with them. 

No, even surrounded by people, Ragatha had still been alone back then. The isolation had been so pervasive, so overwhelming, that it was a wonder she was still around today. She might not have been, if more newcomers hadn't kept showing up. Kaufmo, Jax, and…

Another loud 'DING' sounded off in front of her, making Ragatha nearly jump out of her skin. The scoreboard appeared between her and Kinger, with the score under his headshot ticking up. The butterfly on his finger slowly faded away as it despawned. Kinger looked disappointed for a second, before fixing his attention on other insects that were still buzzing around.

Gripping the net tightly in her hands, Ragatha looked in the direction Pomni and Jax were headed. By this point they had gotten so far off she could barely see them. With a determined glare, Ragatha took off in a full sprint towards them. Even if it meant having to share space with Jax, she was done being alone.

Ragatha huffed and puffed with each pounding step she took towards the pair. Looking up in the sky, the main scoreboard had reappeared, tracking their scores. Pomni and Jax each had managed to get into the twenties, though Jax was still leading. Kinger still had his one, and of course, she, Zooble, and Gangle all sat at Zero.

As she reached the two, Pomni and Jax turned to look at her. Ragatha smiled at the two, and Pomni smiled back. Jax stared at her nonplussed, till he noticed the butterfly net she held and began sniggering.

"Pfft, great choice Rags." He sneered, "I'm sure you'll catch up in no time."

"You're darn right I will!" Ragatha challenged, holding the net above her head. She swung it down defiantly to point at him, accidentally catching a dragonfly as it flew past. Another 'DING' rang out, signalling her first point.

Jax laughed as he shouldered his gun. "Well look at that, you're officially beating Zooble and Gangle, keep it up and you just might get bronze."

"I'm glad you decided to join us, Ragatha." Pomni said amiably.

Ragatha smiled widely as she twirled the net in her hand. "Thanks. I didn't want you guys hogging all the fun."

Pomni chuckled as Jax rolled his eyes. The rabbit turned around, aiming his gun and firing a few shots and racking up more points. As the two ladies watched Jax separate from them, Ragatha leaned in closer to Pomni.

"So, are you having fun with this?" She whispered.

Pomni shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, a little? I never really liked shooter games, but Jax is having fun, and that's good enough for me I guess."

"Hmm." Was all Ragatha could respond with.

The two looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Jax had gained a commanding lead. They decided to take off after him, with Ragatha swinging her net wildly whenever a small bug got close enough to her. She noticed Pomni look over to the side, noticing something and taking off in that direction. Ragatha stopped and watched as Pomni disappeared into the trees. Looking back up, she saw Pomni's score begin to close the gap between her and Jax; and blanched at the fact her score hadn't even entered double digits.

Looking all around her, Ragatha swung her net as hard and fast as she could. There weren't many normal sized insects around her however, and the big ones she figured needed to be dealt with with a gun. As she wandered around she heard a rustling in the grass behind her. She turned around expecting to see Pomni or Jax. Instead, she beheld a sight that made her blood run cold.

It skittered about quickly despite its size. Its many legs carried its long and slender body effortlessly. Its antennae twitched in every direction, its mandibles opening and closing repeatedly. The worst thing, however, was the fact it had made a beeline towards Ragatha.

Ragatha fell on her rear, shouting as she scrambled to put as much distance between her and the centipede as possible. It was gaining on her quickly though, so she clambered to her feet, dropping her net and sprinting as fast as her stuffed legs could carry her. Looking behind her, she suppressed a scream as she saw the wretched creature still closing the distance.

Making it to the treeline, Ragatha contemplated running in to hide from the creature. Her heartbeat pounding in her ears, she whipped around as she realized the rustling had gotten even louder. Her face turned blue, and this time she couldn't stop the scream from escaping her throat. The monster was upon her.

Pressing herself against a tree, her body quivering, Ragatha froze in terror as the centipede had lifted its front half off the ground. Her eyes clamped shut, desperate not to look it in the face. But upon hearing the pounding of footsteps coming towards her, she risked a glance to the side, and was overcome with relief to see Jax bounding towards her. He stopped about thirty feet away, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"JAX, SHOOT IT!" She screamed desperately.

Jax looked from Ragatha to the centipede and back again. His mouth gave way to an enormous, evil smile as he chuckled.

"Aw come on Rags, you can handle this." He said calmly as he lowered his gun to his side.

"Jax, please, I'm not kidding. Kill it please." Ragatha begged as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"I don't know, Raggy. You're pretty far behind." Jax began as he turned around. "I'd feel bad if I just started stealing points."

Ragatha began hyperventilating as she turned her attention back to the giant centipede. By now its front half had extended far above her, and it began to lower its disgusting head towards her. Her vision grew blurry as tears spilled freely from her eyes, black spots beginning to dot the edge of her sight. Its face was mere inches from hers.

"Hi, I'm Paul!"

Ragatha's head swam. Blackness began taking over her sight entirely. She felt the world drift around her as she lost all control of her body. She watched as the world shifted sideways, before the darkness engulfed her entirely.

*  *  *

She had lost track of how long she had been there, how long she had sat staring down at that kitchen table. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, but her tears had dried a while ago. She tried not to flinch at the thumping sound of her mother placing a bag on the kitchen counter just off to her side.

"Do you have any idea how much money your father and I wasted?" The young girl's mother chided. "Those were private ballet lessons! They were not cheap, and you couldn't at least get top five? What were you doing all that time, huh?"

The child shrunk in on herself, feeling her mother's icy glare boring into her. She knew her mother expected an answer, but at the same time, was terrified speaking out would only incur more rage. She risked a sidelong glance to see her mother staring her down, lips pursed in a deep frown. Her mother's eyes narrowed and she breathed sharply through her nose.

"Well, are you gonna say something, or are you just gonna sit there with that dumb look on your face?" Her mother sneered venomously.

Fresh tears formed as the girl took in a ragged breath. Swallowing the bile in her throat, she tried her hardest to keep her voice as steady as she could. "I…I-I'm sorry."

Her mother rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in anger. "Oh my god…fucking whatever. Just sit there and stay quiet until dinner's done. Your father will be home soon."

The girl did as she was told, staying as still and quiet as possible. The only sounds echoing throughout the house being that of the mother's dinner preparations. The girl's body ached as she shook in her seat. All she wanted was to go to her room, hug her dolly tight, and bawl into her pillow. Why was it her fault her flat had slipped, making her faceplant on stage?

As the little girl stared down at the table, she felt something land on her head. She froze, she knew if she moved her mom would notice, and there would hell to pay. She squirmed as she felt the thing flail about and shift through her hair. Breathing heavily through her nose, the girl squeaked as she rocked back and forth in small motions. She could hear mother set something down in the kitchen…hard.

"What the hell are you doing?" She heard.

The girl looked over to see her mom looking at her with a furrowed brow. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by the sensation of the object walking down her head. The thing made contact with the bare skin of her neck, and the child could no longer hold in her fear. She screamed as she jumped from the table, shaking her body and patting herself down to get whatever it was off of her. She stopped and looked down at the floor to see a house centipede skittering away from her as fast as it could.

As her breathing settled, the girl's eyes went wide as she heard stomps coming her way. Before she could react, she found herself being grabbed by the arm and being pulled out of the kitchen.

"WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY! YOU SIT DOWN, YOU BE QUIET!" Her mother screeched with a face of thunder.

The girl tugged and pulled uselessly, desperate to free her arm. She whimpered and cried as her mother tightened her grip painfully. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'LL BE GOOD I PROMISE."

"You want something to cry about?" Her mother looked back at her daughter as she pulled her through the living and began up the stairs. "I'll give you something to cry about."

"NO! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! PLEASE!" The girl pleaded and begged, pulling back with all her might.

It was useless. Before she knew it, she found herself being dragged through the threshold of her parents bedroom. She felt herself being lifted, and was suddenly in the air. She landed on her parents bed, and screamed as her mother slammed the door.

*  *  *

"Ragatha! Ragatha!"

With a whimper, Ragatha's eye slowly cracked open . Her vision was a mess of colors and indistinct shapes. She felt a hand on the back of her head, with another hand holding onto one of her own.

"Ragatha, are you okay?" She heard.

Her eyes slowly regained focus, and could now make out a face staring down at her. The eyes were wide with worry, and the mouth hung open. As the colors began to separate and sharpen, she finally discerned the red and blue pinwheel irises, the white face, and rosy cheeks.

She was in Pomni's arms. It was Pomni who had been calling out to her. It was Pomni who was watching her with a mixture of fear and concern.

"P-Pomni? What happened?" Ragatha moaned as she held her free hand up to her head.

"You fainted." Pomni muttered. "I heard you scream, but when I got here you were on the ground."

Ragatha looked up to the sky, gasping as she recalled what had transpired. Flailing wildly, she scrambled out of Pomni's grasp and onto her feet, causing the shorter woman to yelp and land on her rear. Her head thrashed wildly as she searched for the monster.

"Where'd it go?" She whimpered. "Where is it? Please tell me it's gone, I can't, don't let it come near me please."

"Ragatha! It's okay!" Pomni yelled as she ran up to the panicking doll. 

Ragatha felt Pomni grab onto her hands and stopped frozen. She stared into Pomni's eyes as the shorter girl reached up her hands and grabbed both sides of her face. Ragatha's heart hammered in her chest, and she continued to hyperventilate.

"Listen to me." Pomni began, her voice quiet and gentle. "It's okay, it's okay. The bug is gone. Jax got rid of it. You're gonna be okay."

"J-Jax killed it?" Ragatha squeaked.

"Yes, he killed it." Pomni assured her. "You don't have to be scared anymore, it's gone."

Ragatha slowly looked to her side. She saw Jax standing off several feet from them. He held his weapon on both shoulders behind his head, and had been facing away from them the entire time.

"T-thanks, Jax." Ragatha muttered. A shrug was the only answer she got.

"DING DING DING, time's up!" The voice of Caine rang throughout the entire field. "And the winner is…Kinger!"

"Wait what?" Jax muttered as he looked up at the scoreboard.

Sure enough, in first place was Kinger, with a grand total of fifty seven points. Jax had placed second with forty two, and Pomni placed third with thirty eight.

"We should probably head back to the others then." Pomni finally spoke up.

Ragatha nodded her head in agreement. The trio began to head to where the entrance had been. Ragatha's head drooped as she trudged slowly behind. All she wanted was to go to her room and sleep.

She fainted, and Pomni had seen it. Pomni had seen her vulnerable and defenseless. It was humiliating. Nobody was ever supposed to see her in such a state, much less the woman she loved. Ragatha was supposed to be the one everybody counted on to stay strong and positive, and yet the one person who should never have seen her be so pathetic had to provide comfort for her.

Eventually the trio had made it back to the starting zone. The rest of the gang were already there, and seemed to be simply waiting to leave. Kinger turned and greeted them enthusiastically.

"There you guys are." He cheered as he walked up to them. "Would you like to see my insect collection?"

Ragatha forced herself to smile. "Of course Kinger! Where is it-uh what?"

Ragatha looked over to the side and stared dumbfounded. In a glass jar the size of a small building, dozens of large insects wriggled and squirmed. The other two were similarly confused, but an unspoken agreement between the three told them simply not to question it.

"Great, everyone's here." Zooble grumbled, their arms crossed. "Can we go now?"

As soon as they finished speaking, the portal erupted from the void, signaling to everyone it was time to cap off another adventure. Stepping through, Ragatha had never been so happy to be back in the big top.

"Welcome back my penumbric perrywinkles!" Caine exclaimed as he floated back over the group. "And congratulations on yet another completed adventure!"

Caine kept talking, but at this point Ragatha had tuned him out. Her mind was beyond exhausted, and she needed to get away from the group as soon as she possibly could. She watched as he and Bubble flailed about for a while before once again disappearing, leaving everyone to retire for the day. Ragatha immediately turned for the stairs, but was stopped again by a hand grabbing onto her arm. She turned her head to see Pomni looking up at her once again.

"Hey, Zooble, Gangle, and I are gonna just sit on the couch and talk for a little bit." Pomni told her. "Do you wanna join?"

"Oh that's alright." Ragatha huffed, giving Pomni her signature finger guns. "I'm a little tired so I'm just gonna head to bed. But hey, you guys have fun! I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

Pomni nodded her head, her expression unreadable. "Okay then. Goodnight Ragatha."

"Goodnight Pomni!" Ragatha said with a smile.

The doll turned away and began making her way back to her bedroom. Before long she found herself in front of her door. Grabbing the knob and turning it, she opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind her. Finally back in the privacy of her room, Ragatha let out a long tired sigh as she slowly shuffled over to her bed. Landing face down into her pillow, Ragatha closed her eyes.

"Maybe tomorrow will be better." She mumbled to herself, before sleep took hold of her weary mind.

Chapter Text

With a hand on her chin, Pomni carefully studied the table in front of her. She had a queen and a five, which wasn't the worst hand, but she knew she would need to risk a hit. She looked to her right, Jax had a king and a ten. She looked to her left, Gangle only had an eight and a five. Humming to herself, Pomni steeled her resolve and looked up at Zooble across from her.

"Hit me." She muttered, pointing a finger down at her cards.

Not breaking their gaze, Zooble 'hmm'd as they flicked a card face down to Pomni with a deft hand. Looking down, she slowly picked it up. With a grim expression, she flipped the card face up for the world to see.

Seven, a bust out.

"D%*^&t." Pomni thumped the table with a fist. They had been playing for almost an hour, and she had lost every round so far.

"Tch, dang Pomni, your luck with cards is about on par with your luck in adventures." Jax said with a smug grin. "Looks like I win this round."

"Don't be so sure, Jax." Zooble chided, before turning to Gangle. "Are you gonna hit?"

Gangle held a hand up to her mouth, looking at Jax's cards and her own. Pomni blinked as she watched her contemplate. She was a little surprised at how nervous the woman still was with the game, she had won almost every round so far.

"Hit me." She finally said, her ribbon hand tapping her cards.

Zooble nodded and flicked another card face down to Gangle. Gangle picked up the card apprehensively, holding it in both hands. As she brought the card up to her face, her eyes lit up as she smiled, before delicately placing it on top of the rest of her hand.

Eight, she won again.

"Oh, come on!" Jax suddenly shouted as he stood. He glared at Zooble. "You're counting cards, aren't you?"

  "Now why on Earth would you think that?" They replied coyly.

Pomni sighed as she watched the two begin to bicker with each other. She fiddled with a card in her hand as her eyes wandered. Kinger had just come out of his fort, likely prompted by the sound of Jax and Zooble laying into each other. Which meant that only one was left missing from the gang yet again. She fidgeted with one of her suit's pom poms as she stood up, which gained the attention of the rest of the group.

"I don't want to alarm anybody but," she turned her head up towards the dorm halls. "This is the second day in a row Ragatha's been late. Actually, she's even later than she was yesterday."

Pomni turned back to face the group. Zooble and Gangle shared a look of worry between them. She looked at Jax, who himself had stared at the hallways for a moment. Their gazes met briefly, before Jax's eyes went wide and he turned away from Pomni. 

She knew he would never admit, but for that brief moment she saw it in his eyes; Jax was worrying about Ragatha just as much as she was. Pomni smiled internally at that. She was glad to know, even if the two did hate each other, Jax at the least still cared about Ragatha's wellbeing.

"One of us should probably go check on her." Zooble said, standing up from the table themself.

"Well I volunteer!" Jax shouted as he turned back around holding a finger up.

The gesture earned a shocked look from everyone. Pomni cocked an eyebrow at him. She found it a little hard to believe, but maybe the events of yesterday had genuinely softened his outlook on the rag doll.

"Gangle to go." He finished, pointing down at her.

Pomni snorted disdainfully. Of course that was too good to be true. She looked over at Gangle, who had stood up.

"S-sure, I can go." Gangle squeaked as she turned to head for the hallway.

"Actually," Pomni cut her off, placing a hand on her…shoulder? "I'll go check on her."

"Oh, ok." Gangle nodded, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Pomni smiled, but shook her head. "No thanks, you guys just sit tight. We'll be back out in a little bit, alright?"

Gangle and Zooble each gave her a nod. Jax had crossed his arms, apparently trying his best to look aloof. Pomni suspected he wasn't thrilled with her deciding to go see Ragtha herself. She didn't have time to dwell on it though. She knew it wasn't gonna be much longer before Caine decided it was adventure time, and would likely have forced Ragatha out of her room before she was ready.

Pomni had kept a leisurely walking pace, until she was out of sight of the rest. She then kicked up to a jog. In reality, an opportunity to talk to Ragatha privately was what she had been wanting for all morning. Ever since finding the older woman on the ground unconscious, Pomni hadn't been able to stop worrying about her.

Pomni wasn't blind, she could tell something was seriously wrong. Something happened that had impacted Ragatha deeply, more than just her being afraid of a bug. Through all the physical torment and traumatic emotional experiences she and the rest of the troupe had been put through, that was the first time she had seen any of them actually lose consciousness. A pit formed in her stomach. She had hoped beyond hope that someone's mind shutting down like that wasn't a sign of…

Pomni shook her head as she arrived in the dorm hallway, pushing that thought deep in the back of her brain. Ragatha was gonna be okay, they all were gonna be okay…eventually. Even if they were never to escape The Amazing Digital Circus, they could at the least lean on each other for support, right?

Arriving at Ragatha's door, Pomni took a sharp breath in. Exhaling slowly she raised her fist to the door and gave it a few sharp knocks. She stepped back, fidgeting with her hands as she waited for Ragatha to open the door. When she didn't, Pomni felt her heartbeat tick up as she stared worriedly at Ragatha's picture.

"R-Ragatha?" She called out, more quietly than she had intended. "Are you still sleeping?"

She stepped back up to the door. She contemplated calling out again; maybe Ragatha was just a heavy sleeper? That or she just needed to be louder. She put her head up against the door, hoping to hear the sound of Ragatha walking towards her. Her face scrunched up as she listened in.

*hic*...*sniffle*...

Pomni's eyes went wide; Ragatha was…crying? Pomni closed her eyes, focusing all of her attention on catching any sound she could. Sure enough, she was hearing the muffled sound of sobbing and sniffling. Pomni's breathing grew heavy; first she had fainted, and now this. Her heart leapt in her throat as that terrifying thought from before began to creep forward, and she pounded on the door.

"Ragatha, it's me, Pomni!" She called out, trying to hide the panic in her voice. 

She pressed her head back against the door, forcing herself to take slow, even breaths. Eventually she heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching. Taking a step back, her eyes locked onto the doorknob as she waited for the door to open. Eventually the knob turned, and the door cracked slightly ajar. After an agonizingly long second, Pomni saw Ragatha's button eye peer out from behind the door.

"Hey Pomni!" Ragatha chirped. "What's going on?"

Pomni couldn't stop herself from raising an eyebrow at this. She knew she had just heard Ragatha bawling, and she clearly didn't want Pomni to see her whole face. So why on Earth was she trying to sound so cheery?

Pomni grabbed her shoulder with her other arm. "I…I was hoping I could talk to you, before the adventure started."

"Oh, of course!" Ragatha cheered, but didn't move an inch. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Um," Pomni began. "Actually, would it be okay if I…came inside?"

A long awkward silence ensued. Pomni watched as Ragatha's button eye squinted just a little. It was clear to her that Ragatha didn't want her in her room. But Pomni just kept looking up at her pleadingly. She knew Ragatha needed somebody to talk to.

"I…Y-yeah sure." Ragatha finally relented, opening the door the rest of the way.

"Thanks," Pomni said as she quickly stepped in.

As Ragatha closed the door behind her, Pomni took a second to take in her surroundings. Ragatha's room was exactly what she had expected, brightly colored, perfectly kept, and well organized; a far cry from the garish, jumbled mess of giant blocks, dice, and children's toys Pomni's room still was. She turned around to face Ragatha, who was leaning against the door. Her face fell as she studied the doll's face. It was subtle, and fading away quick, but she saw the trail from Ragatha's eyes, staining her face with tears.

"So uh." Ragatha stammered, her eyes darting around as she tried to force a smile. "W-what's on your mind, Pomni?"

Pomni held her hands behind her back. "I…wanted to see if you were doing okay."

Ragatha's eye went wide at the question, her mouth hung open, seemingly unsure of what to say. Pomni tilted her head, they didn't have a ton of time, but she was prepared to be as patient as she possibly could. She furrowed her brow as Ragatha eventually chuckled and shot finger guns at her.

"Of course I am!" The doll cheered. "I just slept in really hard. You didn't have to go out of your way for my sake."

"I wanted to though." Pomni assured her. "After yesterday, I've been worried about you."

"What?!" Ragatha exclaimed, putting a hand up to her chest, frowning. "W-why would you be worried about me?"

Pomni blinked a couple times, taken aback by Ragatha's strange reaction. "I mean, you fainted. That doesn't seem to really be a thing around here."

"Oh that." Ragatha waved a hand and pushed herself off the door. "I just stopped using my muscles for a minute. I am a rag doll after all, I don't even have bones!"

As if to prove her point, Ragatha flopped onto the floor dramatically. Her limbs had all bent into various positions impossible for a human body, whilst she kept her head raised staring at Pomni smiling. The sight made Pomni's skin crawl as she held her hands up to her mouth and gagged. Thankfully, Ragatha seemed to realize how much the sight disgusted her, as she quickly straightened up and sat cross legged.

"S-s-sorry about that." Ragatha stammered.

"It's okay." Pomni uttered, burping as she resisted the urge to vomit. "Anyway, if something's bothering you, I want you to know, you can talk to me."

"Pomni, I'm fine!" Ragatha flashed a toothy smile, pointing her fingers to the corners of her mouth. "See?"

"Ragatha…" Pomni sighed.

She knew it wasn't gonna be simple, but she also wasn't expecting the woman to be just as stubborn as Jax. Ragatha was hiding something, she was certain of it. Something was going on in that plush head of hers that she did not want anyone to know about.

"Anyway." Ragatha started suddenly as she stood. "What about you? It seems like you've gotten a little more adjusted to the circus."

Pomni cocked an eyebrow as she watched Ragatha walk over and sit on her bed. "I guess, I don't know if I could ever get used to this. But I guess I'm feeling a little better about it."

"That's great!" Ragatha cheered. "You've got a good group of friends to rely on, too. That'll always help."

Pomni laughed lightly. "That's true.."

"And it sure seems like you and Jax are getting close…" Ragatha said stiffly.

Pomni narrowed her eyes as she watched Ragatha force possibly the worst smile she had ever seen. Her tone of voice and eyes screamed jealousy, which to Pomni only confirmed what she suspected before. Ragatha and Jax really were competing with each other for her.

"I don't think I'd say we're close." Pomni began. "I mean, I've realized he is a lot nicer with me than he is with everyone else, most of the time. But the way he treats everyone here does bother me."

"Yeah, Jax can be…a lot." Ragatha sighed.

"I do feel a little bad for him too, though." Pomni said, which earned her a quizzical look from Ragatha. "I mean, he's just as trapped as the rest of us, and he did have that friend he lost."

"Wait," Ragatha leaned forward towards Pomni. "He told you about Ribbit?!"

Pomni leaned back a little, surprised at the sudden urgency in Ragatha's voice. "I mean he didn't tell me a lot about him. Just that they were buddies, and they liked to prank people together.

Much to Pomni's shock, Ragatha laughed gently and smiled. A wistful look graced her face as she looked over to her vanity.

"Yeah, they were a lot of fun back then." Ragatha hummed nostalgically.

Pomni's looked at Ragatha dumbstruck. "Fun? Back then? Hold on, were you and Jax friends at some point?"

Ragatha's eye shrunk to a pinprick as she looked back at Pomni. "Um, well."

Jackpot

Pomni stepped forward towards Ragatha. "What were he and Ribbit like? Were they close? Were you guys close?"

Ragatha rubbed the back of her head. "I…Well, it's complicated."

Pomni nodded her head and leaned in. This was something she was not going to let go. If her suspicions were correct, Ragatha and Jax's past was a lot more complex, and messier than she realized. She focused in on Ragatha as the older woman continued to fidget, refusing to look her in the eye. Pomni hated that she was making the older woman uncomfortable, but if she could get Ragatha to open up to her, then it was worth the gamble.

"Look, that was a long time ago," Ragatha finally said. "I don't know if we should be talking about this."

"Ragatha, you can trust me." Pomni tried to assure her, placing a hand on Ragatha's shoulder.

Ragatha jolted at the touch, her face going red. After a moment, she looked away. "Jax would kill me if he found out I told you about any of this."

Pomni gave Ragatha's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'll jump in front of the bullets, okay?"

Ragatha snorted, covering her mouth as she giggled a little. Pomni smiled assuringly as she let go of her shoulder. The doll looked over to her vanity and stared for a long moment, before standing. She walked over to it and opened one of the drawers; fishing through it for a moment before pulling something out. Turning back to Pomni, she slowly walked forward, clutching the item to her chest with both hands.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone else about this?" She asked.

"I promise." Pomni nodded, chuckling to herself at how familiar this situation was.

After another moment of hesitation, Ragatha finally held the object out to Pomni. The jester gingerly reached out and took it from Ragatha's hands. As she held it up, she was floored at what she saw. It was a photograph of Ragatha, Jax, and Ribbit.

Ragatha stood in the middle of the trio, with the two guys on either side of her with her arms wrapped around their shoulders. She looked happier here than Pomni had yet seen her. Ribbit stood on her left, smiling sweetly and leaning close to Ragatha's face. Jax's face was considerably less mirthful than the others but still had a look of contentment as he knelt down in front of her.

"Jax and Ribbit used to be my best friends." Ragatha finally said. "At least, I thought they were. Those two though, you'd think they were brothers. Honestly I was kind of jealous of just how close they were."

"Even back then they weren't exactly the sweetest people." Ragatha chuckled. "They both loved pranks, but they were a lot more harmless, not so mean spirited as Jax is now. But I loved those two to death."

"W-what happened?" Pomni asked.

"Well, Ribbit abstracted." Ragath answered as she sat back down on her bed.

"I mean, what happened to you and Jax?" Pomni turned to face Ragatha and gave her the picture back.

"I…I don't know." Ragatha shook her head, clutching the picture to her chest again. "After we lost Ribbit, for a long time Jax would refuse to leave his room unless Caine forced him out."

"Everyday I would try and check up on him. I'd knock on his door, or try to talk to him during adventures, but he always either ignored me or shoved me away." Ragatha took a slow, deep breath. "I was so scared, after Ribbit I thought he was gonna go next…"

"So you kept pushing, didn't you?" Pomni asked quietly.

A look of sorrow crossed Ragatha's face. "I didn't want to risk losing him, but over time he just kept getting more and more angry at me."

"One day, he just blew up." Ragatha shuddered. "I had never seen him so mad. There was screaming, a lot of it. I said some horrible things I wish I could take back."

"He…he told me." Ragatha's breath hitched. "T-that it was my fault Ribbit abstracted. He said that I was just taking advantage of them."

"That's horrible." Pomni muttered.

"After that, we didn't speak to each other for a long time." Ragatha said, blinking tears away. "Eventually Gangle made her way to the circus. Poor girl was so scared and overwhelmed and sad."

"And then Jax started bullying her?" Pomni guessed.

Ragatha nodded, "Believe it or not, it was even worse back then than it is now. Honestly, I thought he was trying to force her to abstract for a while. I'd try to stick up for her, but he never relented. It wasn't until Zooble arrived that he let up on Gangle. He did try to target them too, but Zooble at least could fight back."

Pomni stared off, processing everything Ragatha had just told her. Ragatha and Jax were such polar opposites, the idea that they were once so close stunned her. She wondered to herself, was Jax's whole persona simply a front? Was his devil may care attitude and vitriol towards the rest, simply him trying to hide the grief he felt for the loss of his best friend?

"Wait a second." Pomni said in a moment of realization. "Back when we were stargazing, and Jax got really mad at you. Were you talking about Ribbit?"

Ragatha shrank into herself, but shook her head. "I was talking about me, but I think he took it as me rubbing Ribbit's abstraction in his face. I think…I think he still blames me for it."

"And you know, sometimes I wonder if he was right," Ragatha started. "Maybe it was my fault, if I'd have just known that something was wrong with him. If I'd have been able to be a better friend and help him, maybe he would still be here."

"Don't say that!" Pomni shouted, leaning down to meet Ragatha eye to eye. "Everybody in this place is dealing with something. We all have our problems, and you can't blame yourself for not being able to fix someone like that."

"But-"

"Please don't blame yourself." Pomni pleaded, "It's not your fault, or Jax or anyone else's. It just happened."

"How do you know that?" Ragatha asked.

"I mean," Pomni pointed at the photo still in the doll's hands. "Judging from that, the three of you were so close, I don't think Ribbit would ever blame you for not being able to save him. I also think he wouldn't want you to blame yourself either."

Ragatha looked down at the photo, her mouth quivering. "I miss him so much."

Ragatha raised a hand to her face to wipe away her tears, only for more to come. Pomni bit her lip as she watched Ragatha try not to have a breakdown. She had clearly been holding this in for a long time. She had an idea of what she could do to comfort her, though her stomach protested. Still, Ragatha desperately needed comfort right then and there; so steeling herself, Pomni took a step forward and tenderly wrapped her arms around the older woman.

Ragatha tensed up at the sudden contact. In response Pomni began to slowly rub her back. She felt the movement of Ragatha's arms lifting up before freezing midair.

"You can hug me back," Pomni whispered to her. "It's alright."

After a moment's hesitation, Pomni felt Ragatha's arms close on her with a tight squeeze. Her body let out a squeak, and her eyes bulged out before settling back in. 

Pomni smiled, sure she normally didn't like hugs, but she had to admit this felt nice. Ragatha was soft to the touch, and pleasantly warm. Pomni tightened her own grip as she continued her ministrations.

"Thank you." Ragatha whispered, burying her face in Pomni's shoulder.

"Of course." Pomni answered softly. "You know, we care about you."

Pomni felt Ragatha's body hitch with quiet laughter. She found herself hesitant to let go, to her own surprise. Something about this, about the two of them there in each other's arms. Bringing each other a sense of peace and comfort, it felt right. However, Pomni knew there was more to discuss. Surely this wasn't the only thing plaguing Ragatha's mind.

Stopping her massaging, Pomni loosened her grip and began to pull away. She heard Ragatha take in a sharp breath, and felt the doll's grip tighten, her hands clutching the back of Pomni's suit almost reflexively. Pomni felt a little guilty, Ragatha obviously wasn't ready to let go. Nevertheless, she stood firm and pulled herself out of the hug. 

As she straightened up she saw Ragatha's face was a deep crimson. Taking this as a sign, Pomni sat down on the bed next to her.

"So," Pomni started. "I can't help but feel like that's not the only thing that's bothering you."

Ragatha looked away and remained silent. Pomni watched her patiently; sensing that the older woman was still struggling within herself.

"I…" Ragatha finally spoke up. "I've been having nightmares lately."

"About what?" Pomni asked softly.

Ragatha set down the photograph and began fidgeting with her hands. Her head shrank into her shoulders as her mouth pursed. It was clear to Pomni whatever they were troubled her greatly. She wondered if maybe she was pushing a little too hard. Ragatha's morning had started off already being emotionally draining, and here she was, pushing the rag doll farther and farther.

"Well-" 

Before Ragatha could complete her thought, a portal had opened up on the floor in front of them. The two stared down at it, and Pomni's heart sank. She had run out of time.

Pomni felt the invisible force that was their wretched ringmaster willing her and Ragatha into the air. She cursed Caine under her breath; she was finally getting Ragatha to open up, only for his damned impulse to send them on adventures to ruin it. She ground her teeth as the pair were flung into the portal and warped to the main stage area, where everyone else was already gathered. At the very least, Caine was considerate enough to let them land gently on their feet. Pomni's whole body shuddered as she held in another vomiting spell. Of all the horrible things about this circus, that sensation was what she hated most of all.

"There's my bright eyed gemstones!" Caine called out as he zipped around above the group.

"Well Caine, everybody's here. So what's the deal for today?" Jax asked in a huff.

"I'm glad you asked, my lavender lagomorph!" The ringmaster snapped his fingers, and a barrage of trumpets appeared and began to blare.

Caine shot his arms out wide and fireworks began to go off behind him. "Today's adventure is: The Quest to Save the Kingdom of Lufenia!"

"That's right, the Kingdom of Lufenia is in dire need of heroes! Their four magical crystals have lost power, and they need your help to restore their brilliant luster!" He explained, floating around each of his guests. "The journey will be fraught with dungeons, puzzles, and scary monsters ready to devour all they come across! It will be perilous, but if you stick together and muster up your courage, you shall prevail!"

As the fireworks and music died down the group all stared at their warden. Pomni felt her stomach quiver, as much as she was fan of fantasy rpgs back home, this sounded like it was going to be a long, horrifying ordeal. She quickly scanned the room for everyone else's reactions. Nobody else seemed particularly on board with this one either.

"Well, I'm out." Zooble finally said as they began to walk away.

"What, are serious Zooble?" Caine shouted, his eyes twitching as he floated down in front of them. "You can't skip this one! It's my masterpiece! My Magnum Opus!"

"Look, I'm not a big fantasy fan, and this sounds like it's a long pain in the a%$." Zooble explained, glaring at Caine.

"But it's got epic dungeons, and puzzles, and scary monsters!" Caine pleaded.

"You already said that." Zooble answered flatly. "I'm not goi-"

Zooble was interrupted by light tapping on their shoulder. They turned their head to see Gangle behind them, tapping her hands together.

"What's up, Gangle?" Zooble asked.

"Actually, I was kinda hoping you'd come with us this time?" Gangle nervously asked. "I don't think this one sounds terrible. But I think it'd be more fun if you were with me-US!"

Zooble's eyes crinkled up to show a smile as they put a hand on Gangle's shoulder. "Alright then, I'll go with you this time."

"Brilliant, it's settled then!" Caine cheered as he rose higher in the sky. He snapped his fingers and formed a large portal on the ground in the middle of the group. "Get ready for fun and fantasy to come to life!"

Pomni shook her head with a grim frown. "I am not ready for this."

Jax leaned down to her, smirking. "Maybe if we're lucky we can feed some of the npcs to a dragon."

"Oh God, that'd be horrifying!" Ragatha chimed in.

"Horrifying, or funny?" Jax sniggered as he leered up at her.

Pomni looked up at Ragatha as the older woman glared at Jax. She could tell Ragatha was about to start going off on him again. She grimaced, the adventure hadn't even started.

Pomni moved to Ragatha and put a hand on her arm, stopping Ragatha just as she had opened her mouth to say something. Ragatha looked down at her, and Pomni gave her a gentle smile.

"Let's just get going." Pomni said, looking between the two others. "The sooner we leave the sooner we can get this over with."

"Y-yeah, you're right." Ragatha sighed as she started for the portal.

As Pomni watched Ragatha drop in, she turned to Jax shaking. "You don't think there'll actually be a dragon, do you?"

"Heh, guess we'll have to wait and see." Jax lilted, strolling over to the portal and hopping in.

Pomni made her way to the edge of the portal and took a deep breath to calm herself. This was going to go terribly, she just knew it.

Chapter Text

Hearing the sound of the portal closing, Ragatha turned around to see Jax and Pomni walking up to the rest of the group. The two each looked at her with total bewilderment before checking themselves out. Everyone in the group had been decked out in some manner of armor or robes.

Gangle had on a white robe with a hood over her head. Zooble was wearing tan pants with brown boots, a red tunic and cape, and a red feathered hat that sat sideways on their head. Kinger had on a blue robe, and a large wizard's hat. Jax had been given a pink tunic, a green vest with a brown belt over it, as well a pair of brown boots and a green bandana.

Ragatha, as well as Pomni, had each been decked out in full suits of armor. Ragatha's armor was primarily silver with red accents, with yellow trim on the chest piece and shoulder pads. Her bow had been replaced with a silver circlet, and a reddish orange cape flowed down her back.

Pomni had on pale blue plate armor with a yellow cape. Her hat had been replaced with a helmet with long horns that pointed forward. Ragatha had to keep herself from laughing at how utterly bizarre the shorter woman looked.

Admittedly, all of them looked a little odd.

"Well, Caine certainly went all out with this one, huh?" Ragatha said mostly to Pomni.

"I feel like a moron in this!" Pomni seethed through clenched teeth.

Jax chuckled as he flicked one of the horns on her helmet. "Well, as soon as we run into any bad guys, we can just throw you at them."

Pomni side eyed the rabbit, staring death at him as her face contorted in embarrassed anger. Ragatha gave her a sympathetic smile before looking around to take in their surroundings. The group had been spawned at the threshold of a small, yet bustling town.  Stone ramparts surrounded the settlement extending all the way past a large ornate castle.

"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing here?" Zooble huffed as they fiddled about with their hat.

"Caine said something about crystals, right?" Gangle answered as she pulled her hood down. "Do any of you guys have them?"

The rest of the gang patted themselves down, finding they were all empty handed. Zooble groaned as they crossed their arms. "Now what?"

"Well, maybe we should just head into town?" Ragatha suggested, "We might find an npc who has them, or at least can tell us where to find them."

"That seems about as good a place to start as any." Pomni chimed in. She began walking ahead of the group through the entryway, with everyone following close behind.

"Maybe we should just pull someone off the street and torture- I mean interrogate them." Jax sneered, cracking his fingers.

Ragatha blanched as she glared at him. "No, no we should not!"

"Aww, why not Raggy?" Jax grinned, leering at her. "Aren't we the heroes? Whoever we grabbed should be honored to have us "interrogate" them?"

"Torture's not heroic!" Ragatha shouted.

"Maybe we should check that place out first." Kinger suddenly spoke as he pointed at one of the town's larger buildings. 

The group's gazes followed the direction of his finger to a large building. In the center of it was a wooden door with a sign next to it that simply read "Pub" in large, bold letters. Through the windows, they could see a smattering of npcs gathered around each other.

"Great idea Kinger!" Ragatha cheered. "There's gotta be someone in there we can talk to."

"Or maybe we can just get smashed and trash the bar." Jax chuckled.

Zooble snickered as they looked over at him. "I'd love to see you try."

"Now what does that mean?" Jax narrowed his eyes at Zooble, but kept his grin wide.

Zooble shrugged their shoulders as they started for the pub. "All I'm saying is, one beer and you'd be on the ground, lightweight."

"Excuse you?" Jax spun around to fully face Zooble, a twitch in his eye. "Lightweight? I bet I could drink every single one of you under the table!"

Zooble snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"What, you don't think I can?" Jax leaned down towards Zooble. "Then how about it Zooby, you and me."

"You seriously wanna challenge me to a drinking contest?" Zooble cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What, afraid you can't hold your booze well?" Jax sneered.

"I'm a bartender, dumba#!. Did you already forget that?" Zooble jabbed a finger into Jax's chest. "Do you think I couldn't tell how buzzed you got off of half a vodka sour?"

"That's not-!"

Pomni stepped in between the two, holding her arms up at them. "Why don't we just head inside now. We need to find those crystals if we want to get this adventure over with."

Jax chuckled as he straightened up. "Yeah, I guess."

The rabbit turned away from the group and began heading towards the pub. Grabbing the door handle, he slammed it shut behind him as entered. Kinger had followed close behind, whilst Gangle walked up beside Zooble.

Zooble looked at Pomni. "I don't know how you do it."

Pomni tilted her head, puzzled. "Do what?"

Zooble pointed at the pub door. "Reign that a#@hole in."

"Oh…" Pomni shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, we should probably follow after him if we don't want him f*^$&%g everything up." Zooble murmured as they and Gangle walked up to and entered the pub.

"This is gonna be a long day." Pomni groaned as she trudged behind the pair, leaving Ragatha the only one still outside. 

As soon as she was sure none of the others would see her, Ragatha bent down on her knees and held her face in her hands. She exhaled a long trembling sigh. Her mind was still back in her room, trying to process everything that was going on.

She had broken her promise. Even if it had been made to Jax of all people, so long ago, the guilt still ate away at her. He made her swear she'd never tell a soul about their history, especially regarding Ribbit. Yet with but a sweet look and a simple touch, Pomni had made her spill everything.

It was pathetic, she thought to herself. The fact that she could go back on a promise so easily, all because she so desperately wanted Pomni's approval. It was no wonder she didn't have any friends, no wonder nobody else trusted or cared about her…

But, if that was true, why was Pomni acting so concerned for her? The younger woman had treated her with such kindness and patience, even going against her own aversion to touching just to hold Ragatha in her arms…Being allowed to be held like that, Ragatha had nearly given up on the idea.

Ragatha knew she'd never forget it. Even if Pomni never even looked at her again, Ragatha would always cherish that moment of closeness the two had finally shared. She felt as if her heart would burst from her love for the jester growing even stronger. As foolish as she knew it to be, a small part of her had begun to hope that maybe, just maybe, that love could eventually be reciprocated.

Straightening herself out, Ragatha quickly walked up towards the pub. She wanted this adventure over more than the rest of them, and knew she couldn't dawdle any longer.

Stepping inside, she saw the rest of the group had all sat along the bar chatting amongst themselves; with the mannequins scattered across tables in a larger dining area to the side. To her disappointment, Pomni was sat at the very end of the bar, with Jax taking the seat next to her. As bad as it was, she quite liked the idea of just yanking him off of his stool and stealing the seat for herself. Pomni probably wouldn't appreciate that, though. She seemed determined to give the both of them her time and attention.

She really was such a sweetheart.

Ragatha figured, maybe she could just stand at the corner. It might've looked weird, given the amount of open seats there still was; but at least that way she could still be by Pomni's side. Before she could take a step, however, she noticed Zooble turn around in their seat. Their gazes met and Zooble waved her over.

To say Ragatha was surprised at this would be an understatement. Zooble and her had rarely spoken with each other, especially these days. It wasn't that she didn't like Zooble, but they just seemed so aloof and distant, not to mention they obviously preferred Gangle's company over anyone else's. As much as she craved Pomni's attention, Ragatha went over to the stool next to Zooble and took a seat.

"Hey Zooble." Ragatha said with a smile. "What's up?"

"Hey," Zooble leaned onto the bar top. "How've you been feeling lately?"

"What?" Ragatha looked at them, puzzled. "I'm-I'm great, how about you?"

Gangle, who was sitting on the other side of Zooble, leaned forward to look at Ragatha with a worried expression. "Pomni told us that you fainted yesterday."

Oh…

"What, that?" Ragatha stammered as she tried not to panic. "Oh it was nothing. Just a…hot flash, that's all!"

"That's not a thing here…" Zooble replied flatly.

Ragatha averted her gaze away from Zooble towards the door. Every fiber of her being screamed that she needed to disengage from this. Her mind agonized over the fact Pomni would gossip with the two about her like that. That she would tell everyone about her moment of weakness and vulnerability. And now, Zooble wanted to confront her about it; probably to tell her about how weird and dumb she was.

"Hey." Zooble huffed as they put a hand on Ragatha's shoulder. "If something's wrong, you don't have to hide it, you know?"

Ragatha's mouth pursed, breathing through her nose as she looked at the hand touching her. First Pomni, now Zooble and Gangle. What was all this?

"Guy's I'm fine, really.." She muttered.

"Are you sure?" Gangle asked, "I've never seen anybody faint here, though. We're worried about you."

"Yo-you are?" Ragatha asked.

"Yeah," Zooble began. "You're always trying to act so cheerful and nice, despite the s&^* Caine, or Jax, puts you through. You don't have to bottle everything up, you know."

Ragatha fell silent. Her thoughts went back to that moment during softball. Pomni had essentially said the same thing, and that only led to Ragatha screaming at both her and Jax. She remembered that moment in the bar. The way everyone stared at her as she ranted about her mother. Incredulous. Annoyed.

Her heart sank, deep down she knew they were wrong. Pomni may have forgiven her that time, but if they saw the extent of just how angry and miserable Ragatha could be… she knew all too well the consequences.

No, being snappy and confrontational wasn't Ragatha's role. She had to be kind, had to be cheerful, no matter how much it burned her out. That was what was truly expected of her. It was all she had ever been. All she was allowed to be.

"Zooble…" Ragatha sighed, before giving the pair a thumbs up. "Really, I'm fine. You guys shouldn't worry about me."

Zooble narrowed their eyes at her. "Why not? You worry about all of us?"

Ragatha blanched. That one really caught her off guard. "Because…because you just shouldn't, alright. I'm fine, see!"

Ragatha tried to flash them a brilliant smile, but faltered as Zooble's expression remained unchanged. The air between the two grew tense, and Ragatha found it impossible to maintain eye contact with them. Eventually Zooble sighed and shook their head.

"Whatever…look, when you're ready to talk, you know where my room is." They said as they turned to Gangle.

Ragatha stared down at the bar top, her stomach in knots. She felt like she needed to apologize, Zooble was only trying to help. Yet, once again, Ragatha just had to go and ruin things. Like always…

Eventually the bartender came out from the back, wiping a mug to a shine with a rag. He stepped up to the bar, and looked at the group. "Well goo-

…

Zooble ran a hand down their face, groaning with annoyance. "Great, so much for getting information here."

"Maybe we can try one of those npcs over there." Pomni said as she pointed towards the dining area.

"Good idea, Pomni." Jax said, putting a hand on top of her head. "And since the rest of us don't have weapons yet, we can just use you to threaten them with."

"We're not threatening anybody here, Jax." Pomni grumbled as she pushed his arm off her head.

Ragatha stood up from the bar. "Here, I'll go ask them."

She made her way over to a table that had a single mannequin sitting at it, a pint of what Ragatha could only assume was beer in their hand. The npc looked up at her, and she gave it a wave.

"Hi there!" She lilted, smiling sweetly. "My friends and I are new here, and I was wondering if maybe you could help us?"

The mannequin took a swig of its drink. "Whatcha need?"

"Well," Ragatha began. "We're looking for these crystals, I think, and I was hoping maybe you could maybe point us in the right direction?"

The mannequin put its pint down, its body briefly twitching. "Crystal, huh? Well I've got a guy, but pickup's every other Thursday at 10:23 P.M. in the back alley. You'll have to wait awhile, but next time I can drop communication he's got another potential buyer."

Ragatha stared stupefied at the npc. She watched as it convulsed again before pounding down the rest of its drink. It stood up suddenly from the table and strode out of the pub with a swing in its step. Ragatha's eyes stayed glued to the now unoccupied seat as her brain tried to reboot.

"Crystals huh? Well, you people might be just who the princess has been looking for."

Ragatha and the gang all turned to look at the opposite corner of the bar. Another mannequin was now standing on the side, leaning on the bar top with a hat covering its face. Ragatha quickly walked up to it, but hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Um excuse me, the princess?" She asked.

"That's right." The mannequin muttered as it scanned the group. "The princess said a group of warriors was going to roll into town soon, looking for the crystals."

"Do you know where they are?" Ragatha asked.

The mannequin raised its head to look at her, revealing two big googly eyes on its face. "Come with me. I'll take you lot to the castle, the princess will want to meet you."

"Oh well…" Ragatha turned back to the group. "What do you guys think?"

"I think," Jax began. "We burn down the town, then pillage the castle."

"Oh my God, shut up." Zooble grumbled before looking back at Ragatha. "Honestly, it's probably the best shot we have."

"Zooble's right." Pomni said, standing up from the bar. She walked over to join Ragatha. "We should get going, I can't help but feel like this is going to take awhile."

Ragatha nodded and turned back to the npc. "Alright, lead the way."

The mannequin pushed itself off the bartop. Wordlessly, it began walking towards the door and exited the pub. Ragatha looked back at the group, who all were stepping out their seats to join her and Pomni. 

Her gaze wandered down to the jester, who was looking back up at her. Pomni gave her a small smile, and whilst Ragatha smiled back, she caught the glint in Pomni's eye. That brief exchange told Ragatha all she needed to know. It simultaneously made her heart flutter and her stomach churn.

Their conversation was far from over.

*  *  *

As the group made their way through the castle towards the throne room, Pomni found herself gritting her teeth with annoyance. Sure this ridiculous suit of armor wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, the gaudy helmet aside; but the clank of her boots with each step rattled through her body, irritating her nonexistent ears. For once she missed her jester suit and hat.

Stepping into the throne room, Pomni watched as the mannequin that had led them there turned towards the group. With a silent bow, he stepped off to the side, signaling for everyone to cast their gaze to the princess as she stood up from her throne. Pomni was unsure whether to be surprised or not that it was the same princess from their candy kingdom adventure, that Princess Loo-something. The vibrant candy royal clashed horribly with the gray and brown stone that made up the castle's walls and floors.

Jax chuckled to himself, glancing down at Pomni. "Do you think if we just take her out the adventure'll end early?" He whispered.

"I doubt it." Pomni shook her head as she answered. "Knowing Caine by this point, something else would probably pop up to try and re-rail everything."

"Maybe…" Jax grinned as he bent down to Pomni's level. "Still, it'd be a good time to "eat" the rich."

Pomni covered her mouth as she snorted. "Jax!"

"Greetings my Warriors of Might!" The princess called as she raised her arms out to them. "It seems God has finally answered our prayers and brought you to us."

Pomni rolled her eyes at hearing this. Apparently "Magnum Opus" just meant reusing characters and barely changing the script.

"That's right ma'am!" Ragatha stepped out of the group, towards the princess. "We're here to get those crystals and do…whatever it is we're supposed to do."

"Wonderful!" Loo-something cheered as she walked up to Ragatha. The princess took one of Ragatha's hands in hers and curtsied. "My kingdom and I are most indebted to you, my brave and beautiful knight."

Ragatha blushed a bright red at the compliment, running her free hand through her hair as she smiled bashfully. "Oh my, uh t-t-thank you. I promise we won't let you down Princess!"

The princess giggled as she brought Ragatha's hand up closer to her face. "Please my dear, call me Loo!"

"Sure thing, Loo!" Ragatha squeaked as she looked away to hide her face.

Pomni scowled as she watched this little interaction. She couldn't quite place it, but something about the princess's obvious flirting, and the way it made Ragatha turn into putty in her hands lit a fire in Pomni's stomach. She had half a mind to just march up and pull Ragatha away from Loo and back to the group. It was just an npc after all, surely it wasn't that big of a deal! She stole a quick glance at the rest to see their reactions; Kinger was barely paying attention, Zooble and Gangle were chatting amongst themselves, and Jax was watching Ragatha with what seemed to be a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"Now," Loo started, finally letting go of Ragatha's hand. "Tonight, my cooks shall prepare a feast for you all. Then in the morning we will have you armed up and set off to restore the crystals to power."

"Oh, that sounds lovely, doesn't it guys?" Ragatha cheered as she twirled around to face the group.

"Pretty sure it's less about the dinner, and more about the dessert for you, isn't it?" Jax smirked, waggling his eyebrows.

Ragatha's face went several shades darker as she glared at him. Pomni herself couldn't resist giving him the side eye; she was more than ready for a change of subject. Suddenly Zooble stepped up from the group. Pomni watched curiously as they approached Ragatha.

"I get you're having fun here, but I'd like to not have to stay in this adventure for over an entire day." They explained, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Zooble." Ragatha shrank into herself as she apologized. "You're right, this isn't the time to get distracted."

"Don't worry about it." Zooble shook their head before leaning towards Ragatha, whispering something Pomni couldn't hear.

Ragatha's whole head had suddenly gone a nice shade of burgundy as she wrung her hands together. She stared wide-eyed at Zooble, who only shrugged before turning back and rejoining the group. As they got closer Pomni made eye contact with them. Pomni zipped her eyes back and forth between them and Ragatha, narrowing them questioningly. Zooble's eyes crinkled in an almost mischievous way, confusing the jester further as they stepped past her and stood next to Gangle.

"Sorry Loo," Ragatha grumbled as she turned back around to face the princess. "We're kind of in a hurry, so I'm afraid we'll have to skip dinner."

"I understand." Princess Loo replied, bowing her head. "I am grateful that you're treating this mission with such urgency. Truly you are the heroes we have been waiting for."

"Yeah…that's it!" Ragatha muttered. "Totally…"

"So~." Pomni spoke up and stepped out from the group. "Can we have those crystals and get going now?"

"Oh, the crystals aren't here my dear!" Princess Loo chuckled.

Pomni glowered hard at the walking lollipop, her eye twitching from sheer irritation. Jax's suggestion of regicide was sounding more appealing by the minute.

"Oh, well where are they?" Ragatha asked.

At this, the Princess's face went stern. "They were stolen, taken by a group of bandits to Suffering Swamp."

"Oh God…" Pomni cringed at the name.

"You will need to make your way through Suffering Swamp and deal with the bandit party to reclaim the crystals." The princess spoke grimly. "After that, you will need to travel to the Pantheon of Discord and place the crystals on their pedestals to restore their light."

Princess Loo once again had the audacity to grab hold of Ragatha's hands as she finished her speech. "It will be a perilous journey, fraught with danger. But I have faith that you will succeed."

"Of course we will, Loo!" Ragatha declared with her head high and her chest puffed out.

Pomni gritted her teeth as her face went red; just how long were these two going to stand there and ogle each other? At this point she had seen more than enough, and decided it was time to move to Hell on. Marching up to the pair, Pomni grabbed a hold of Ragatha's arm, pulling her back roughly to the gang before the doll could even react.

"Hey!" Ragatha shouted in surprise.

"Good luck Warriors of Might! May the light of the crystals lead the way." Princess Loo said as she waved to everyone.

"Mm." Pomni grunted, wanting nothing more than to be out of this stupid castle.

As the pair got closer to the rest of the group, Pomni noticed Jax bent over, barely containing his laughter. Zooble and Gangle were looking at her amused as well. Pomni's frown deepened as she looked between the three.

"What?" She asked exasperated.

Jax snickered as he straightened himself up. "I didn't figure you for the jealous type, Pomni."

"Jealous?!" The jester squeaked, letting go of Ragatha's arm. "Of what and why?"

"Oh, I'm not saying..." Jax retorted, grinning wide.

Pomni simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What on Earth did she have to be feeling jealous about? No, that couldn't be it, clearly she was just already fed up with being on this adventure. There were far more important things on her mind than some dumb fantasy quest concocted by their idiot ringmaster. The fact that gaudy candy princess was being such a distraction wasn't helping.

Eventually the googly eyed mannequin that had brought everyone to the castle approached them once again. Briefly bowing to them again, he began leading them out of the throne and through the halls of the castle. Pomni hoped it wouldn't take long, they'd just get whatever gear they needed, set off to finish this, and get back to the big top. While making their way down a hall, they passed by an open door, and Pomni was hit with the scent of frying oil and… cheese? After taking another couple steps, she stopped and turned around. She realized that while everyone else was still following the npc, Ragatha had stopped in her tracks and was staring through the open entryway.

Pomni looked back to the group for a second before walking back to Ragatha. The older woman stared starry eyed into the kitchen. She was sniffing at air, and Pomni could swear she was on the verge of drooling.

"Uh, you okay Ragatha?" She asked, bewildered.

"Poutine…" The rag doll whispered longingly.

Pomni tilted her head sideways to better look at Ragatha's face. "What?"

"You two alright back there?" Pomni heard Zooble calling out to them.

The shout seemed to snap Ragatha out of her stupor, as she faced the group. She looked back and forth between the party and kitchen a couple of times before looking down at Pomni.

"Hey so, this is probably a stupid question, but uh, have you guys ever had poutine before?" She asked bashfully.

"What's poutine?" Pomni asked.

"Oh my gosh, it's the best thing ever!" Ragatha squealed, "Fries with gravy and cheese curds on top, it's so delicious!"

"That sounds…" Pomni trailed off. It sounded a bit odd, but apparently this was something Ragatha was all about.

"I've had it before." Zooble spoke up. "Why? Is that we're smelling?"

Ragatha nodded her head enthusiastically. "It smells so good…"

A sullen look flashed across Ragatha's face so briefly, Pomni had barely registered it. Her hands clasped down at her waist, as she nervously swayed back and forth slightly. She looked back into the kitchen one last time, biting her lip.

"I…never mind." Ragatha let out a hollow laugh as she started back to the group.

Pomni suddenly put a hand up, stopping her in tracks before speaking. "What were you gonna ask?"

"Oh it was nothing…." Ragatha chirped, waving a hand. "No need to worry about it."

"I'm not worried, I'm curious." Pomni replied flatly. "What's up?"

"Ah well…" Ragatha ran a hand nervously through her hair again. "I mean, I know we're in a hurry and y'a-you guys don't wanna stay for dinner and all. But I was, maybe, kind of hoping, and of course feel free to say no-"

"No." Came Jax's curt reply, earning an elbow from Zooble.

"Ragatha." Pomni spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

Reaching out, Pomni placed her hand on Ragatha's shoulder, smiling warmly. "How about this: we'll go on ahead and get everything ready, and you go get yourself a plate of that poutine stuff."

"Oh!" Ragatha squirmed. "That's alright, I don't want to put you guys out like that."

"It's fine," Pomni said with a light chuckle. "It'll probably take a bit anyway, so just go enjoy yourself."

"I, well I mean." Ragatha paused for a second to collect herself. "If you really don't mind?"

"Of course not." Pomni breathed as she patted Ragatha's shoulder. "Go treat yourself."

A giddy smile quickly spread across Ragatha's face as she began bouncing in place. "Ok! Do you want me to bring you some later?"

Pomni thought for a second. She couldn't say she was too interested, food in the circus had only ever tasted vaguely like it was supposed to. Honestly, the fact that Ragatha was so excited for this concoction surprised Pomni a little. This dish must've been something Ragatha greatly missed from her old life. Still, Pomni had to admit, the pure joy radiating from the doll was very infectious, and Pomni found she didn't want to deflate her excitement by refusing.

"Yeah, go ahead." She eventually answered. "We'll see you in a little bit okay?"

Ragatha nodded her head vigorously, her smile widening ever more as she turned around and nearly sprinted into the kitchen. Pomni shook her head as she giggled at the older woman's antics. Turning back, she quickly rejoined the group as they resumed their trek through the castle, trailing slightly behind them.

 Despite everything, the genuine happiness Ragatha exuded in that moment left a warm feeling in her chest. The almost childlike glee as she finally allowed herself to indulge in a pleasure all her own. The way her smile had finally reached her eyes in a way that wasn't forced for everyone else's sake. Pomni herself felt content to see her friend be able to simply enjoy herself.

Deep down, Pomni hoped she could help Ragatha have those moments more.

*  *  *

"These will be your transport through the swamp and on to the Pantheon of Discord." The guide explained as the group arrived at the castle's stables.

Pomni and the group walked past the stalls, each checking out the horse that they would be riding throughout this journey. Her hand tightly gripped the sheathed, bladed weapon she had been given for Ragatha when she eventually returned. Looking down at the mace that was now hanging off of her hip, she grimaced. She didn't want to even begin to imagine what horrors Caine had concocted that they would have to fight.

"Couldn't these things have some spikes, or mounted guns, or anything to make them cool?" Jax complained as he inspected his horse.

"You already have guns, isn't that enough?" Zooble bit back as they petted the horse they were taking.

Jax twirled the revolver he held in fingers, his other hand resting on the shotgun hooked to his belt. "C'mon Zooby, there's no such thing as enough guns."

"Why'd they only give me a stick?" Gangle quietly complained.

"I think it fits you perfectly." Jax jeered, staring her down.

"F%^# off." Zooble groaned at him.

"You know, it does go quite well with the robe actually." Kinger interjected.

"Oh um, thank you?" Gangle said slowly, looking up at him confused.

"No problem!" Kinger happily chirped, scratching his head with the handle of the massive hammer he had been given. "Thank you for what?"

Pomni tuned out the group as she examined the horse she was being given. The way they all looked, the way they moved, it all seemed oddly real. Yet, there was a specific repetition to the way the heads moved up and down and how the tails swished. It served as another reminder that these were but simple video game creatures, nothing more than mounts. It honestly boggled Pomni's mind how Caine could be so deft at certain aspects of his craft, yet unbearably lazy in others.

"I'm back!"

Pomni turned toward the voice of Ragatha, just outside of the stable. She and the gang watched as the doll bounded through the entryway, juggling two plates of fresh hot poutine in her arms. Pomni could swear she could see splotches of gravy on Ragatha's chest piece, and held in a giggle as she carefully stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth.

"Took ya long enough." Jax said, tapping a foot impatiently. "How many of those have you eaten at this point?"

"Um…" Ragatha cast a sideways glance as she smiled sheepishly. "Four..."

"You guys should really try it though!" She quickly shouted, holding one of the plates out.

"Yeah, no thanks." Jax shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm not really a fan." Was Zooble's answer.

Ragatha's face grew more downcast, and her shoulders began to slump as each of her circus mates refused her offer. Pomni couldn't help herself but frown at them. Sure it was she who agreed to Ragatha bringing the food, but that didn't mean everyone else had to shut her down. She quickly jogged over to Ragatha, reaching a hand to the plate she still held out, and grabbed a small handful of gravy covered fries and cheese.

"Thanks Ragatha, I appreciate it." Pomni stated with a pleasant smile.

Ragatha smiled widely back at her. "Of course!"

Pomni nervously stuffed the fries into her mouth. Her eyes went wide, completely caught off guard. It was…good? Really good. Maybe not eating five plates worth, but the crisp saltiness of the fries complimented the savory gravy and the creaminess of the partially melted cheese perfectly. Pomni was honestly quite shocked, food in the Digital Circus had never tasted this good before.

"That's…wow." She stuttered.

"So good, right!" Ragatha cheered.

Pomni happily grabbed another handful, and the elation it gave Ragatha showed on her face. Stuffing them down her gullet, Pomni turned towards the rest of the group, pointing at the plate.

"You sure you don't wanna try? It's good." She asked.

Jax, Gangle, and Zooble all gave her a shrug or head shake no. Pomni pursed her lips at them. She knew there was no real reason to be annoyed with them, but at the same time, it was plain on Ragatha's face how much she wanted to share even just this simple pleasure with them. 

With a sudden jolt, Kinger let loose a loud shriek, causing everyone else to jump. He looked over to the pair, his eyes crinkling in that joyous way they do.

"Oh, there you are Pomni, where'd you go?" He asked.

"Umm…Nowhere?" She slowly answered.

"Well that sounds like a nice place." Kinger said with a nod, before looking to Ragatha. "Oh, what do you have there?"

Ragatha took in a sharp, excited breath. "It's poutine! Do you wanna try some Kinger?"

"That sounds delightful, Ragatha." Kinger exclaimed as he joined the pair, taking the plate off Ragatha's hands.

"Could you guys hurry it up? This is taking forever, and I'm ready to kill something." Jax shouted with a huff.

"It won't be much longer Jax." Pomni answered.

"By the way," She muttered as she held up the weapon she was still carrying, looking at Ragatha. "This is apparently supposed to be yours."

"Oh, um thanks?" Ragatha mumbled, her brow furrowing at the blade.

The trio quickly finished their food, giving the plates to one of the npc attendants, before Pomni handed the blade over to Ragatha. With no small amount of trepidation, Ragatha slowly pulled the weapon out of its sheath, revealing the razor sharp machete it held within. With a forceful gulp she quickly resheathed her weapon and held it down to her side, her fingers tapping it nervously. Pomni eyed her questioningly.

"You alright, Ragatha?" She asked gently.

"Yep!" Ragatha squeaked out, refusing to meet Pomni's gaze. 

"Anyway, we should probably get going, huh?" The older woman spoke quickly before heading over to one of the stalls.

"Caine gave us horses!" She cheered delightedly. "That's so nice of him."

Pomni watched as her friend stepped up to one of the horses, gently placing a hand under its mouth, while slowly massaging its muzzle with her other hand. The animal snorted contentedly, enjoying the affection. A look of sorrow and nostalgia flashed across Ragatha's face as she leaned her head against the horse's and closed her eyes. She exhaled shakily, and Pomni could swear she saw tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she walked up to the doll.

"You okay?" She asked quietly.

After several seconds of silence, Ragatha sniffled softly as she lifted her head from the horse. Looking down at Pomni, she blinked a couple times before giving the jester a small smile.

"Y-yeah," She answered feebly. "I'm okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Pomni asked.

Ragatha shook her head. "Not right now."

"Ok," Pomni whispered. "I'll be here if you want to later though, alright?"

Ragatha's mouth quivered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Alright."

*  *  *

"Why did it have to be horses?" Pomni huffed under her breath.

Every pounding step of her mount's hooves had Pomni violently bouncing up and down on her saddle. Thanks to the poor jester's short stature, she was the only one in the group without a proper purchase on her steed. With each passing second she could feel the sense of nausea growing stronger as her insides continued to be shaken up.

"It looks like we're finally here." Ragatha called from the front of the group.

Naturally Ragatha had been the one most comfortable on her horse, and effortlessly led the group out down the trail that led out of town.  After what had felt like hours just trotting along, the group had finally made it to Suffering Swamp. Ragatha pulled the reins of her horse to stop it just in front of the tree line, signalling to the rest of the group to pause as well.

As Pomni tried to pull at the reins of her own horse, the sudden stop caused her to bounce even higher. On instinct, the girl yanked on the reins harder, causing the horse to shake its head and pull down on its bridle. Between the strength of the animal and her lack of proper grip, Pomni was sent flying forward over her horse and onto the ground. She landed with a loud thud as the horns of her helmet embedded themselves deep into the dirt. She could hear Jax laughing hysterically at her misfortune.

"Son of a b%!@h." She screamed at the top of her lungs, uselessly trying to pull her helmet out of the dirt.

"Pomni, are you okay!" Ragatha shouted as she hopped off her horse and ran over to her distressed friend.

"This stupid helmet's stuck." She hissed between her teeth.

"Do you need help?" Zooble asked.

After another couple yanks, Pomni sighed frustratedly. "Yeah, I think so."

Zooble hopped down from their horse and joined Ragatha behind Pomni. The two looked at each other briefly before Ragatha leaned down towards Pomni.

"We're gonna grab a hold of you and help pull you out okay?" She not so much asked as warned.

Pomni shuddered before taking in a sharp breath. Exhaling steadily, she met Ragatha's gaze and nodded to give them the go ahead. Ragatha and Zooble each grabbed a hold of one of Pomni's sides and began pulling as hard as they could. With her feet planted and her hands tightly gripping her helmet, Pomni gritted her teeth as she pulled with all she had.

"What is the deal with this thing?" Zooble huffed as they strained to free the jester.

"I swear I'm going to kill Caine for this." Pomni hissed.

"Just gotta keep trying!" Ragatha said as she clenched her mouth.

The three pulled and pulled but the helmet refused to budge an inch. Eventually they stopped to catch their breath. Pomni groaned, exasperated as she set her hands along the rim of her helmet. She figured it was time to try changing tactics.

"Ok, let's try this again." Ragatha eventually said, before she and Zooble grabbed a hold of Pomni again. "Maximum effort on three. One…Two…THREE!"

Using every bit of strength they had, Ragatha, Pomni, Zooble put in one final effort. Tears formed in Pomni's eyes as the strain began to hurt her head. Clamping her eyes shut, she pushed against the edge of the helmet as hard as she could.

With sudden, loud POP, Pomni found herself flung backwards into Ragatha and Zooble. The trio landed on the ground in a heap, and all groaned in pain and annoyance. Pomni rubbed her temple as she felt a headache coming on. She cracked her eyes open, staring at the helmet still stuck in the ground.

"Oh thank God." She sighed.

Standing up and dusting herself off, Pomni turned towards her aids. Reaching her hands out, she helped the two stand, smiling gratefully at them.

"Thanks guys." She breathed out as she ran a hand through her hair.

"No big deal." Zooble said, readjusting the hat on their head.

Ragatha nodded along with a smile as she looked at the jester. Her cheeks gradually began to grow a light shade of pink as she stared. Pomni cocked her head, her eyes flitting to the side briefly before meeting Ragatha's again.

"Everything good?" She asked hesitantly.

Zooble chuckled as they turned back toward their mount. "She's just enjoying the view."

"Zooble!" Ragatha squeaked as she covered her face with her hands.

Pomni looked back and forth between them. "Huh?"

"Nothing! It's nothing." Ragatha hurriedly sputtered as she walked past Pomni. "Anyway, we need to get going. Those crystals are supposed to be in this swamp."

"Right…" Pomni said slowly as she watched Ragatha remount her horse.

Looking back at her own ride, Pomni frowned as she slumped her shoulders. She hated the thought of getting back on it. At this point she frankly would've preferred to just walk through the swamp.

"Not so eager to get back on?" Zooble asked as they rode up to Pomni.

"Can't say that I am." She answered.

"Maybe you ought to ride with one of us, then." Zooble suggested. "That way you're not gonna be bouncing all over the place and getting flung off again."

Pomni thought for a second, before nodding at the suggestion. "That's a good idea, actually."

Zooble nodded their head. "Cool. Hey Ragatha!"

Ragatha twisted in her seat to look back at Zooble. "What is it, Zooble!"

"Pomni's gonna ride with you, alright?" They said with no small amount of mirth in their voice.

"Oh?" Ragatha questioned as she turned her horse around and trotted back towards them. "Is something wrong?"

Pomni's face grew hot with embarrassment. She looked down at the ground as she screwed her mouth shut.

"I'm too short to reach the loop things." She muttered through tight lips.

"What, the stirrups?" Ragatha asked, getting a small nod from Pomni in response.

"Oh, well in that case, climb on up!" She cheered as she held a hand out for Pomni.

Taking Ragatha's hand in hers, Pomni found herself being lifted off the ground with ease. Within a moment she was sitting on the back of Ragatha's horse, instinctively wrapping her arms around the taller woman's waist. Her legs pressed against the horse's saddle, and Pomni turned her head to the side to keep Ragatha's cape out of her face.

"Are you all good back there?" Ragatha quietly asked.

"Yeah." Pomni replied with a nod.

"Good, hold on tight." Ragatha said before reaching down the side of the saddle.

"Hey, Zooble?" She called as she pulled up a rope.

"What's up?" Zooble asked.

Ragatha uncoiled the rope partway before tossing an end to Zooble. "Can you tie this to the bridle on Pomni's horse? Technically it should be wearing a halter instead, but I don't think that's gonna make much of a difference here."

"...Alright." Zooble responded.

"Oh come on, just leave it here, does it really matter?"  Jax complained as he strode his horse up next to Ragatha's.

"Yes, it does." Ragatha stated matter-of-factly as she tied the rope tight to the horn of her saddle.

"Why?" Jax asked, leering at her.

"It-it just does…" Ragatha muttered.

With Pomni's horse secured, Ragatha whipped the reins of hers and began heading into Suffering Swamp with the rest of the team following close behind. The dense canopy of trees blocked out most of the light, leaving just enough for the party to see the immediate area around them. The stench of stagnant water and moss hung thick in the sticky air, and the sounds of animals moving about through the brush was all around them. The gang exchanged nervous glances as they kept watch through the foliage. They had to give Caine at least some credit here, the area had everyone on edge.

"The princess said that a bandit party brought the crystals here." Ragatha spoke up.

"Hopefully they'll be at least a little bit of a challenge." Jax scoffed.

"We better be careful," Pomni began, "Knowing Caine, I don't doubt that we're gonna get jumped sooner or later."

A loud rustling sound could suddenly be heard from the group's right. Everyone's heads whipped around to face the source of the noise. Staring intently, none dared take their eyes off the rustling brush. As the movement grew more intense, hands began to reach for weapons as the group mentally prepared for a fight. In a flash, the brush broke apart as the ambushing enemy leapt out at them.

"A gloink?" Pomni yelled incredulously.

"Is that it?" Gangle muttered, confusedly.

The tiny creature hopped around as it haphazardly made its way towards the party. A small bandana was wrapped around its head, and it somehow managed to wield a tiny knife. As it bounced closer everyone exchanged looks of perplexity and annoyance. As baffling a choice as this was, it didn't really surprise anyone.

"Welp, at least this'll be quick." Jax said, pulling out his revolver and shooting the gloink square in the face.

"Jax!" Ragatha shouted, mortified.

"What?" The rabbit shrugged his shoulders. "It was attacking us!"

As quick as the gloink appeared it faded away. Bombastic fanfare rang out through the air; signaling the party's victory, as well as scaring the living daylights out of everybody. As soon as the gloink despawned, four twinkling lights appeared in its place. The lights slowly rose higher into the air, before flying towards the party, stopping in front of Pomni, Ragatha, Jax, and Kinger.

They each held their hands out and the objects slowly lowered into their palms, the light dimming to reveal the crystals they were seeking.

"Huh, that was quick." Ragatha said as she held her crystal up to her face to inspect it.

"See, now let's get the heck out of here so I can go find more stuff to shoot." Jax sneered, twirling the one he had on his finger.

With the crystals in hand, the party picked up the pace through the swamp. As they made their way, the ground began to look more dry, and sunlight was becoming more abundant, signaling to everyone they were almost out.

Jax tossed the crystal he held in his hand up and down absentmindedly, his eyes wandering about lazily. Without warning something long and moist shot out towards him. Jax flinched, shaking his hand madly as the crystal had been snatched from him out of the air. His face going red with anger, Jax stared down to see a small, bright green frog next to him. With the crystal wrapped in its tongue, Jax watched as the critter pulled it into its mouth and swallowed it.

"The heck?" Jax shouted as he pulled his gun back out.

Pomni looked over to see the frog, her eyes widening as she took in the features of its face. The large black eyes, the lighter shade of green around its mouth, the rosy cheeks. She and Ragatha shared a look of confusion and horror.

It looked just like him.

The pair watched as Jax took aim at the frog, staring intensely at it. The little critter simply stared back at him unblinking. As Jax held out his gun, his arm began to shake slightly. Before he could react, the frog hopped towards him, jumping high into the air and landing on Jax's horse, before hopping onto Jax's shoulder. Jax stared at the creature wide eyed as it croaked.

"So are you gonna shoot it or what?" Zooble suddenly asked.

Jax's eyes flicked over to them briefly, before he fixed his gaze on the clearing ahead of them. "Nah, that'd be too easy."

Zooble snorted, "That didn't stop you from blowing away the gloink."

"Hey, that thing had it coming." Jax retorted.

"So you're just gonna adopt a frog, then?" Zooble asked, "and here I thought the only thing you liked was violence."

"I am a man of many mysteries, Zooby," Jax sniggered, "There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"I know enough," Zooble sneered under their breath.

Eventually the group managed to exit Suffering Swamp, the bright sun now shining down full bore on them. The sticky air was replaced with a dry breeze that felt pleasant on everyone's skin. The mud and dirt gave way to a new stone path that led straight ahead.

Pomni watched Jax carefully out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure whether she was surprised or not that he had decided to spare the little frog. Though she had a feeling she knew what was running through the rabbit's head at the moment.

"Hey Ragatha." She whispered.

"Yeah?" Ragatha whispered back.

"You don't think Caine did that on purpose do you?" Pomni asked, stealing another quick glance at Jax.

"I doubt it." Ragatha whispered, shaking her head slightly. "In all the time I've been here, he's always been pretty oblivious, but I've never seen him act maliciously."

"I guess so." Pomni muttered. "Still, I have to wonder what possessed him to make a little frog npc like that."

"I can't begin to guess at how Caine thinks." Ragatha started. "Honestly, it seems like everything he does is just based on whatever thought crosses his mind."

"You're probably right." Pomni whispered.

The rest of the trip continued in silence, and before long the party found themselves in front of a large decrepit temple. Moss covered the stone walls, sections of the roof had caved in, towers had crumbled. Everyone dismounted their horses and stood in front of the large ornate wooden doors that marked the entrance. They had finally made it to the Pantheon of Discord.

Ragatha stepped up to the doors before turning to face the group. "Are you guys ready to do this?"

"I'm ready to get in there and get this over with." Zooble chuckled as they walked up beside her and grabbed one of the door handles.

Ragatha grabbed the handle of the other door and the pair grunted as they pulled. The old wood creaked as they slowly gave way. As the duo pulled the doors open, the stench of must and rot billowed out onto them, causing everyone to hack and gag. 

As the rest of the group marched up to the entrance, Pomni stood next to Ragatha before exchanging glances with the rest. Everyone's face set with a determined grimace, all ready to finish this quest and return to the big top. 

With the armor clad ladies taking the lead, the party began their slow march into the old temple. Their slow descent into Caine's newest madhouse.

Chapter Text

Rubbing both of her arms with her teeth chattering, Pomni's head darted every which way as she walked. The group had found themselves traveling down a dimly lit hallway. The air around them felt damp, as moss covered swathes of cobblestone. Torches lined the walls, the small flames granting them barely enough visibility to see around them. 

Ragatha had taken point, having pulled a torch out of its sconce earlier, and slowly led the group as they searched for any sign of where they were meant to go. Waving their light source slowly back and forth across the path, she strained her eyes for any clues in the darkness.

Pomni found herself almost glad she didn't actually have lungs to breathe in whatever mold or bacteria could have surrounded them. The smell had been bad enough at the entrance, but now that she was inside she could practically taste the hundreds of years of death and decay. Her body let loose another tremble. Feeling a chill deep in her digital bones, she cursed under her breath. It was as if this stupid armor repelled the heat from her body in this dank dungeon.

"Scared already, Pomni?" Jax sniggered, "We just got here."

"I'm not scared, I'm freezing!" Pomni huffed, a shiver running up her spine. "Are you guys seriously not cold at all?"

"I mean, this robe is pretty warm." Gangle murmured while tugging at the hood.

"Yeah, as much as I'm not crazy for the getup, it is pretty comfortable." Zooble concurred as they readjusted their hat yet again. "Mostly."

"Honestly, I just never really get cold." Ragatha admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. "Just a perk of being a ragdoll I guess."

Pomni leered up at Jax, "And you?"

"Why, I simply feel nothing at all." Jax chuckled, puffing out his chest.

"Okay edge-lord." Zooble grumbled with a roll of their eyes.

"Guys, I see a door up ahead!" Ragatha called out, pointing out ahead of them.

Sure enough, the party had come across a musty old wooden door. Stains from years worth of water damage covered the wood. Cracks and holes littered the decrepit thing, and the handle was so rusted it seemed like it would fall off any moment. Ragatha hesitantly wrapped her hand around it and gave the door a light tug. It creaked in protest, but acquiesced to her effort and cracked slightly ajar.

Nodding to herself, Ragatha pulled the door fully open. She leaned through the entryway, holding her torch out to inspect the area inside. The room was small and square, with not but a large chest in the middle. Ragatha tilted her head quizzically, before turning back to the party and waving them over.

"There's a treasure chest in here," she told them. "Maybe we should check to see if there's anything inside?"

Jax chuckled, "Maybe it's rigged to blow up as soon as someone tries to open it."

Gangle squeaked as her eyes went wide. "W-what if it's a mimic?"

"A what?" Zooble asked her.

"A mimic," Gangle repeated, her hands wringing around her staff. "It's a monster that pretends to be stuff like treasure chests, so it can eat people when they try to open it."

"Great point Ribbons," Jax patted Gangle roughly on her back. "How about you go find out?"

"Wha-me?!" She shrieked.

"Of course," Jax folded his arms nonchalantly. "Since you clearly know so much about it, surely you know how to deal with it."

Gangle squirmed in her robe, tightening her grip on her staff. Looking at the entryway, she let out a pathetic wine as she took a fearful step forward. She didn’t get far before Ragatha held a hand out to stop her.

She gave Gangle a comforting smile. "It's alright Gangle, I'll go check it out."

"Are you sure?" Gangle hesitantly asked.

"Of course!" Ragatha cheered with a wave of her hand. "You guys go on ahead, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well, okay then." Gangle muttered as she took a step back toward the group.

"Hold on, Ragatha." Kinger suddenly spoke as he stepped out from behind the gang. "Why don't I go in with you?"

"Oh, Kinger!" Ragatha looked at him, slightly puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" The older man replied cheerily, "There might be an ant farm in there."

"Oh," Ragatha muttered, giving Kinger a small chuckle. "Well, I suppose there could be."

The pair stepped into the room, with Pomni staying at the entryway as the other’s continued down the hallway. Pomni watched the two creep cautiously toward the chest, her fingers tracing down the shaft of the mace at her hip. She looked down at it, then back to the chest. 

Chilling images flashed through her mind. A chest morphing into a demented beast, towering over her friends. Ragatha and Kinger, helpless as gaping maws enclosed on them. Their bodies being flung up in the air as gnashing teeth threatened to rip them apart. Stuffing and wood chips flying as the two were mercilessly devoured.

Pomni shuddered as she tried to shake the images from her head. She knew none of them could physically die in this digital purgatory, but the mere idea of watching two of her friends being torn to shreds by some monster still made her stomach twist. Every instinct told her not to, but her anxiety over her friend's safety forced Pomni to pull her weapon from her hip and sprint to Ragatha's side.

As she caught up, Ragatha looked over to her in surprise, "Pomni?"

"Just want to back you guys up, in case something happens." She said, trying to calm herself as much as her friend.

Ragatha gave her a small smile before turning her attention back to the treasure chest. The three stood there, eyeing it warily. It seemed harmless enough, but everyone knew better than to expect Caine not to pull out some kind of twist whenever he could. Reaching her weapon out, Pomni gave the chest a couple strong taps with the flanged head of her mace.

No reaction.

"It seems safe." Ragatha said quietly.

"I guess we should just open it." Pomni responded with a murmur.

Ragatha nodded and reached down to the box with her free hand. She undid the latch and slid her hand under the lid. The hinges groaned as they turned, but quickly enough the chest was opened for the trio to pilfer whatever contents lay within. As the three peered inside, Pomni and Ragatha shared a perplexed look.

"Oh, well look at that." Kinger muttered as his hands floated down to grab what lay in the chest

As Kinger pulled the item out of the chest to inspect it, Ragatha and Pomni continued staring into the box. Truth be told, they were stunned. The chest was large enough it could have fit the both of them inside easily, yet all it held was a musty, ancient looking book.

"Is that really it?" Ragatha asked.

"What was even the point of that being here?" Pomni pondered.

Kinger opened the book, humming to himself as he flipped through the pages. “Oh?”

Ragatha stepped over the Kinger, leaning in to take a look. “What does it say?”

“Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Dia, Temper,” Kinger listed off each word as he turned from page to page. “Cure, Protect, Shell...”

“Just sounds like a bunch of random words. Why would Caine put this here?” Ragatha wondered aloud.

“Hmm,” Pomni folded her arms as she frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe for casting spells? Like in a fantasy RPG or something.”

“A what now?” Ragatha asked her.

Pomni gave her a bewildered look, “A role playing game? You know, like D&D, or Dragon Quest.”

Ragatha blinked before her eye lit up, “Oh, so like, a fantasy video game?”

“Y-yeah,” Pomni said with a small nod. “I take it you didn’t play games that much?”

“Oh no,” Ragatha shook her head with a dry smile. “Video games weren’t allowed at home when I was a kid. Mom always said kids who played video games just turn into useless drains on society.”

Pomni’s eye twitched as her jaw clenched, “Uh huh.”

Ragatha looked at her curiously for a second, before her face dropped as she seemed to realize something. “Uh, d-did you play video games?”

Pomni gave her a curt nod, “Yep.”

Ragatha flinched backwards, her hands pressing into her chest as she stammered nonsensically. “Wait-sorry-not you-I didn’t mean-she-I-”

“Ragatha it’s fine,” Pomni cut in with a chuckle as she reached out and grabbed onto Ragatha’s arm firmly. Ragatha’s face went red with what Pomni could only assume was embarrassment before she let go.

“A-anyway, a spell-book, huh?” Ragatha shouted, putting on a tight smile as she turned towards Kinger. “That does make sense when you think about it. But how exactly do we use it? I don’t think we’ve ever been on an adventure where we got to use magic before.”

“Well we’ll worry about that later,” Kinger said as he closed the book and began towards the door, with Ragatha following close behind. “For now, let’s just keep going.”

Pomni let out a sigh she didn't even realize she was holding in. Laughing to herself, the jester stepped back away from the chest and lowered her mace to her side.

Ragatha chuckled, looking back to her. "Guess we got ourselves all worked up for nothing, huh?"

"That's fine with me." Pomni laughed, running a hand through her hair. "The less hassle the bet-Jesus!"

Pomni found herself being knocked to ground, feeling the force of a shockwave to her side. She looked over to the chest, horrified to find an inky black substance had begun to violently spill forth from it. Pouring down from over the rim, it quickly spread out over the stone floor in every direction. Pomni had to scramble backwards as quick as she could as the viscous liquid made its way towards her.

“Pomni!” The jester turned her head to see Ragatha sprinting over to her, arm outstretched. Pomni reached out her hand and clasped onto Ragatha’s tightly as she let herself be pulled up.

The pair looked down to see the pool begin to spread more quickly, as if trying to swallow the entire room in darkness. Without a word Ragatha turned and ran for the door, pulling Pomni behind her and dropping her torch in the process. Pomni kept her eyes on the strange substance as it trailed behind them. Her stomach dropped, something had begun to rise up from the vile ichor.

The creature rose slowly, it’s black round head shifting from side to side. Long jagged antennae whipped around with every motion it made. It’s yellow beady eyes seemed to zero in on the horrified jester. As it continued to emerge, long lanky arms lashed out, exposing large hands with frighteningly sharp claws. It’s body wriggled, until with a quick movement it leapt up from the dark pool, landing on the ground with an unsettling grace.

As Pomni and Ragatha made it to the the doorway where Kinger waited, they found the rest of the group doubling back to rejoin them. Gangle was the first to catch up to them, looking panicked. “What happened? Was it the mimic?!”

Pomni shook her head furiously. “No, but it’s probably not much better.”

Ragatha gave them a mirthless laugh as looked between the two. “At least there’s only the…one….”

Pomni looked up at Ragatha, who was now staring back into the room with a look of pure terror. She froze, becoming all too aware of a large amount of sound now echoing out from the room behind her. Her eyes flicked to the rest of group, having caught up and were now staring into the room as well.

Jax nodded approvingly, holding up a handgun as he smiled. “Well, this’ll be fun at least.”

Ragatha took a step back as her hands fidgeted nervously. “We should probably run!”

Zooble nodded as they began to back away. “I’m with Ragatha on that.”

Shaking in her boots, Pomni forced herself to slowly turn her head to look back into the room. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared in wide eyed fear. What was once a single shadow creature had now become dozens, possibly more than a hundred. With each second that passed another would emerge from the darkness that had encompassed the tiny room, having overtaken the walls and even covering the ceiling. Every single one ambling towards the party, bodies coiled and ready to pounce.

Pomni didn’t need to hear another warning before bolting down the hallway, with the others following close behind. The pounding of boots rang in her head, her digital heart pounding in her chest. The hallway was a blur of stone and flames as the instinct to get as far away from the creatures as possible took over her body.

“You know, we could just kill them all. That’d be a lot more fun!” Jax shouted from the back.

“Knock yourself out, Jax!” Pomni bit back, his snark being the last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment.

The sound of gunshots rang out, making Pomni wince as she went to cover ears that didn’t exist. She heard Jax laugh, wasting no time pumping lead into the monsters bearing down on them.

“These things aren’t even that tough!” The violence craving rabbit cackled.

Pomni tried to pay him no heed, focused only on finding a way to escape the hoard. Much to her relief, she saw the hallway finally open into a larger room up ahead. Sprinting at top speed, Pomni entered the room as quickly as she could, skidding to a stop as she took in her surroundings. The area was much more spacious than the previous. Another long dark hallway lied directly across from where she and the group entered. Checking both sides, each held another pair of paths branching off in opposite directions.

Everyone looked around themselves frantically, trying to decide which path was the correct one to take. Realizing they were just wasting time, Pomni decided to go for the corridor she stood closest to. Bounding down through the hallway, she only made it about a dozen feet before stopping in her tracks at a sight that made her blood run cold. More shadow monsters swarmed the path, all coming straight for her. Pomni immediately doubled back to the main room. Rejoining the rest of the group, everyone huddled into the center as a horrifying realization set in. They were completely surrounded, with no possible means of escape.

“Whelp, looks like we’re fighting our way out!” Jax yelled giddily with a determined glare.

With shaking hands, Pomni grabbed hold of her weapon again. Everyone else did the same, save for Ragatha, who simply stood there frozen. With various fearful looks and dreadful grimaces, the group braced themselves for the fight of their digital lives.

As the monsters swarmed into the room, Jax was the first to leap into action. Whipping his handguns out, he immediately started firing into the swarm that had chased them into the room. With each bullet that hit its mark, the creatures would fade into a shadowy whisp. Pomni looked back to see him laying waste to the creatures. Despite her mounting fear, she had to admit he was making it look easy.

“Pomni, look out!”

Hearing Ragatha’s shout, Pomni whipped her head back around to see one the creature’s leaping at her. With a gasp she held her mace out above her head, blocking the clawed hand that bore down on her. The thing landed on the ground, with Pomni struggling to fight it off as it pushed back against her.

“You really gotta loosen up, you know!” Out of nowhere, the monster faded away as a bullet ripped through its head. Pomni stood there for a moment stunned, jumping when Jax suddenly landed in front of her. He twirled a pistol around his finger as he wore a smarmy grin. “You’re taking this way too seriously.”

Pomni narrowed her eyes at him, “What do you mean?”

Jax laughed as he stopped twirling his gun around. Aiming it behind him at an upward angle, he fired a single shot. The bullet ricocheted off of the ceiling, before bouncing off the ground and pinging another creature in the head.

Pomni stared in horrified amazement. “How the hell…?”

“This is a video game, remember?” Jax sneered as he held his arms out. “These are all just a bunch of worthless fodder for us to screw with.”

“I mean, take a look at yourself, Pomni.” He remarked, pointing down and tapping a finger to her chest. “You’re a jester in knight armor carrying a mace. Nothing about this is worth taking seriously. So just cut loose, work off those weeks of rage you’ve been building.”

Pomni held her weapon up, taking a moment to let Jax’s words sink in. She didn’t have long though, out of the corner her eye she saw yet another creature lunge after. Gritting her teeth, she gripped the handle of her mace tightly as she swung for the monster, pouring all of the frustration built up over the day into it. With a vicious strike to it’s head, it burst into another puff of dark smoke.

…Huh

It felt…satisfying, thrilling even. Pomni watched the whisps of her victim fade into nothingness, before looking back out at the horde of creatures that still surrounded. A wicked smile spread across her face, her teeth morphing into razor sharp incisors. Spreading her legs and planting her feet, she held her mace at an angle to her side. Perhaps Jax had a point here after all.

As more of the horde closed in on the group, Pomni sprung forward. With each powerful swing of her mace, more and more of the creatures fell. Surrounded by fading smoke, Pomni had to resist the urge to laugh maniacally. Jax was right, these things really weren’t that tough.

Tearing down another pair, Pomni turned around to find more targets. She cringed as she saw a large group of creatures leaping at her at once. A few at a time she could handle, but this had to be close to twenty, all in the air and coming down on her fast. She braced herself, hoping it wouldn’t be too painful.

“Firaga!” A burst of red and orange overtook Pomni’s vision, forcing her to cover her face and look away. An intense heat washed over her for brief moment before quickly fading away. She lowered her arm and found all the monsters that were attacking her had disappeared. Instead, Kinger stood in front of her, one hand held out as he held the book open in front of him.

“You alright, Pomni?” He called out.

“I’m fine Kinger, thanks!” Pomni answered back. She examined the rest of the party fighting. Zooble had taken Kinger’s mallet, knocking away any creatures that got close to them and Gangle. Jax had focused in on one of the halls, mowing down the enemies with ease. Even Gangle would bonk any on the head if they managed to slip past Zooble.

Ragatha, however, just stood there watching the carnage unfold around her in distress. She gripped her machete tightly in her hands, still in its sheath. Pomni couldn’t say she was totally surprised, given her weapon of choice during the bug catching adventure the prior day. She figured Ragatha wasn’t one for any sort of violence, so naturally she would’ve been the least prepared of everybody for this. At the very least, regardless of her help, the party seemed to have taken better control of the fight than Pomni thought they would.

Except, Pomni realized, they weren’t really getting anywhere. With every enemy the group took down, another immediately took it's place. Pomni’s stomach started to churn. Were they spawning infinitely? Did Caine not think to put a limit on how many enemies they needed to fight before they could progress? Was there a specific thing they needed to do to get rid of the creatures?

Pomni mulled these questions over in her head as she tried to keep up with the oncoming waves of enemies. By now her digital muscles were growing sore, and her breathing was beginning to grow labored. She could tell Zooble and Gangle were also beginning to wear down as well. Thankfully, Kinger and Jax were still keeping the pace up.

As Pomni backed up towards the group, a sudden shriek rang out through the halls. A long shrill cry that penetrated deep into Pomni’s core. Her heart leapt in her throat, she recognized that sound. Stomps could be heard approaching them, and Pomni looked towards the corridor they came from, bracing herself for the worst.

There it was, much to Pomni’s dismay. Out of the darkness emerged that wretched angel that sent her and Kinger to Hell. It’s head was at least attached to its body this time, now sporting an ill fitting horned helmet. It was draped in a purple robe, with puffs of arcane energy swirling around its body. The angel slammed its hand to the ground, lifting it to reveal more enemies spawning.

Right away Pomni knew what was happening. The angel was the reason the shadows were spawning endlessly, and they would need to kill it in order to stop the hoards. In other words, this stupid monster was the first boss of the dungeon.

The others seemed to realize this as well, as Jax and Kinger turned their attention to it immediately. Whipping his shotgun out, Jax immediately got in close and blasted the beast in the chest. Meanwhile Kinger let loose another fire spell onto it. The angel screeched as it writhed in agony, unprepared for this sudden assault. With an agileness belied by it’s wide frame and lanky limbs, the angel swiped at Jax faster than he could react. Grabbing hold of the rabbit, it lifted him up and threw him towards the group still in the center of the room.

Jax was flung straight into Ragatha, knocking the both of them into the ground. Ragatha’s machete flew from her hand, landing in the hallway they had arrived from. The duo picked themselves up as quick as they could, only to find the angel charging straight at them with jarring speed. Ragatha ran back towards the hallway to grab her weapon. Before she could pick it up, she heard someone hitting the ground behind her. She turned to see it was Jax, having been knocked back by angel yet again.

The monster bore down on the both of them, rearing its’ arm back. Getting back to his feet, Jax managed to dive out of the way as it slammed a fist into the ground with all of its might. The temple shook from the impact, causing everyone to struggle with maintaining their balance. The angel brought its fist down again and again as it tried to crush Jax and Ragatha. Finally, with one last impact, the floor under the two began to crumble away. Ragatha dove forward as the ground dropped out from beneath her, barely catching onto the edge of the hole. Jax meanwhile, had just managed to grab a hold of her legs to stop himself from falling. The two dangled helplessly, with Ragatha struggling to maintain her grip.

The angel now hovered over them, letting loose another shriek as it prepared to attack. Ragatha closed her eyes, bracing herself. Before anything could happen, however, she heard the angel cry out in pain again. Opening her eyes, she saw the monsters engulfed in flames. The angel stumbled backwards as it thrashed around. Another fireball was launched at the angel, enveloping its entire body.

Pomni leapt into the hallway at the monster. Swinging her mace with intense ferocity, she landed a vicious blow to its’ jaw, sending it reeling to the ground. Pomni stood over the flailing beast, glaring down hatefully at it. She swung the mace over her head, screaming in rage as she brought it down on the beast’s head. A sickening crunch rang out as the mace made impact with the angel’s skull. It wailed as black liquid spurted from where her weapon connected.

Pomni was not done, her fury emanating from her as she raised her weapon up for another strike. She brought it down again, and again, and again, her wrath taking hold of her as she relentlessly assaulted the angel. Its’ black blood sprayed out with each attack, coating Pomni’s armor and limbs in streaks.

Eventually the creature fell limp, Pomni heaving as she drug her mace from its’ ruined head. The corpse slowly began to fade away, the splatter along the walls and its’ assailant disappearing along with it. Pomni snorted, the main threat was taken care of, now it was just a matter of dealing with the remaining mobs.

“Pomni, help please!” Pomni snapped her attention to the sound of Ragatha’s cry. She looked over to the hole the boss created to see Ragatha trying to pull herself up. As she reached a hand out, her other lost its’ grip. Pomni dove for Ragatha’s outstretched hand, catching it barely in time. She tried as hard as she could to pull them up, but Ragatha and Jax’s combined weight proved to be more than she handle on her own.

“You mind hurrying it up?” Jax yelled, not bothering to hide his agitation.

“I’m trying.” Pomni hissed, straining from the effort. She tried to stand up to pull from a better angle, but her foot slipped out from under her, making her hit the ground with a thud. The impact caused her to lose her grip on Ragatha, sending her and Jax plummeting into the darkness.

“No, nonononono!” Pomni screamed as she desperately tried to reach out and save her friends. Unfortunately she was too late, and she quickly lost sight of them as they fell.

“F#$@…F!#k!” Pomni pounded on the ground as she cursed herself out. Their journey through the temple had barely started, and it was already falling apart. Pomni’s anger began to reach a fever pitch as she ran her hands down her face. She wanted nothing more than to ream Caine out for all the awful crap he put them through.

As Pomni sat there seething, she noticed Ragatha’s machete not far from her. She reached out and picked it up, immediately pulling it out of its’ sheath. She looked back towards the remaining group, who were still fighting the shadow creatures. Grabbing her own weapon, she stood and turned back towards them with a face of thunder.

If there was any silver lining here, she at least still had some targets she could use to vent out her rage.

* * *

Jax had no idea how far he had fallen, only that it had been a very rough landing. Groaning as he lifted himself up from the stone floor, he shook his head vigorously to shake off the daze. As much as he hated this stupid looking rabbit body, at least it came with being indestructible. Still, it wouldn’t have killed Caine to at least make the floors a little softer, or maybe given him wings or a parachute. At least he then he could’ve just watched Ragatha hit the ground, that would have been entertaining enough.

Turning to sit himself up, Jax tried to scan the area around him. Wherever he was, it was far darker than the upper floor had been. Looking around, he saw long stretches of hallway on either side of him. There were no torches to be found, but he could still somewhat see. He figured Caine at least put enough lighting in the area so that the gang wouldn’t be traveling blind in this. Oddly thought out for him, honestly.

Jax perked his head up as he realized he was missing something. He patted his vest down as he looked all over. He paused for a moment as he caught sight of Ragatha, still lying on the ground massaging her forehead. He may not have been able to see the splat, but at least he could get a kick out of that. Still, a mildly inconvenienced ragdoll wasn’t pertinent at the moment. Thus Jax got back to searching. Turning to look behind him, Jax gave a small grin as he spotted the little frog npc he picked up back in the swamp.

“There you are Croak,” Jax whispered as he held an arm out, “Get over here.”

Seeming to understand him, Croak did as Jax asked. Hopping towards him, the little frog quickly made its way up Jax’s arm and onto his shoulder. Satisfied, Jax stood up and stretched his arms out, cracking his neck as his eyes wandered.

There had to be a way to get back to the others. If they were gonna be fighting more big monsters, Jax didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to fill them with lead. Looking up, Jax was annoyed and slightly unnerved to find he couldn’t even see the hole he had fallen from. This could be awhile…

Hearing a groan behind him, Jax turned to find Ragatha finally on her feet-stump-leg things. The two locked eyes for a second, and Ragatha grimaced for the briefest moment before looking away and slipping to a more neutral look. Jax resisted the urge to laugh, he couldn’t say he was any happier with who he was stuck with either.

“Where are we?” Ragatha asked as she looked all around her, “Just how far did we fall?”

Jax rolled his eyes at her, though she didn’t seem to notice. “How should I know?”

Ragatha clasped her hands down at her waist as she mumbled, “I hope the others are doing alright.”

Jax shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “Eh I’m sure they’re fine.” He said, before grinning at Ragatha wickedly. “I mean, did you see Pom-Pom? Who’d have thought that little clown could be such an anger ball. Honestly she’s probably racked up even more kills than me here.”

Ragatha blanched at that, much to Jax’s delight. With how much of a pacifist he knew she was, seeing Pomni turn into a killing machine had to have bothered her immensely. Jax couldn’t say he felt the same, seeing the jester go completely apeshit was hilarious. Not to mention the silly little poses she held as she faced those weird shadow things. Cartoony as it was, she was a bit of a badass, and he had to respect the commitment there.

Jax chuckled as he stepped towards Ragatha, “Whelp, either way we should probably get back upstairs quick. Don’t want her hogging all of the action.” He pulled a pistol out from its holster, twirling it around his finger. “Maybe once we get back I can lend her a gun and we’ll team up, that sounds like fun, don’t ya think Rags?”

Ragatha frowned as she looked away from him, stammering quietly. “I wouldn’t- well-if she were- I don’t know, maybe…”

“Seems like a great idea if you ask me,” Jax hummed, walking past Ragatha. After taking a few steps, he turned back around to face her with a gleam in his eye. “After all, nothing like a little teamwork to strengthen a blossoming friendship, right?”

That got her squirming. Jax’s smile grew wider as he watched Ragatha fidget with herself, hands up to her chest wringing themselves together. As much as she would want to deny it, she couldn’t stand the idea of Pomni liking him more than her. Ragatha could plaster on fake smiles and that patronizing cheery voice all she wanted, Jax knew better.

Not that it mattered, though. Pomni was smart, and knowing Ragatha, all Jax needed to do was stand back and watch as dollface inevitably screwed everything over. Eventually Pomni would get sick of that overbearing “everybody needs to be as fake happy as me” attitude. Everybody does at some point. As much as Ragatha desperately tried to play to her archetype, she never was particularly good at it.

“I mean, I guess as long you guys have fun!” Ragatha eventually shouted, with a smile so fake even a lobotomized toddler could see through it.

Jax narrowed his eyes at her before turning back around and continuing forward. He could hear the thump of Ragatha’s legs moving behind him. He rolled his eyes again, neither of them knew where to go, but she could have at least done him the favor of going the opposite direction. Oh well, it just meant if he was going the wrong way, she’d be no closer to rejoining the group than he was.

The two continued on in a tense silence. Jax had to admit, this was starting to grate on his nerves. What kind of dungeon was ninety percent hallway? How exactly did the layout of this place work? And couldn’t there have been some fodder for him to shoot to try and stave off boredom for just a little bit?

“You know…” Jax’s ears perked at the sound of Ragatha’s voice. “I do have to wonder what we’re actually supposed to do with the crystals while we’re here. Caine said something about “restoring” them, whatever that means, but so far all we’ve been doing is walking down hallways and fighting monsters.”

“You mean we,” Jax sneered as he spun around to face her, placing a hand on his chest. “As in everybody but you have been fighting monsters. Outside of holding a torch up, all you’ve done is stand around and be useless.”

“Hey!” Ragatha glared at him, her face scrunching up in a tight frown. “I-I’m not useless, I’m just not as weirdly obsessed with violence as you are!”

“I am not weirdly obsessed with violence,” Jax tutted at her with a smirk, “I’m normal obsessed with violence.”

Ragatha scoffed as she rolled her eye, muttering under her breath. “There’s nothing normal about you.”

Jax clicked his tongue as he leered at her, “You know I heard that, right?” He folded his arms as he leaned down, bringing his face uncomfortably close to hers. His eyes narrow, yet his grin set wide. “You’re never as quiet as you think you are Ragdoll. I’m surprised you didn’t learn that after last time.”

Ragatha shrunk in on herself, though she managed to maintain eye contact. She deepened her frown at him in a way the felt rather defiant. Jax almost found it amusing, especially as she began to falter, her eye drifting off to side. Jax had to be thankful he didn’t have normal teeth, or else they’d have grit as he realized she was now staring at Croak, who still kept his perch on Jax’s shoulder.

Although, a golden opportunity presented itself there…

"What now Rags?” Jax sneered, “You wanting to take my little buddy here?”

Ragatha took in a sharp breath through her nose. Her hand slowly began to reach out for the little npc. “C-could I hold him?”

“Hmm…” Jax quickly straightened himself out, ripping Croak away from Ragatha’s reach. “Nah, I don’t think so. Not really sure I can trust you with this one, you know?”

Ragatha’s arm went limp as she deflated. “Do…do you still blame me for Ribbit?” She asked, her voice wavering as a hand gripped tightly onto her arm.

Jax looked off to the side, holding a finger up to his chin as he played at a thoughtful expression. He looked down to her, narrowing his eyes again as he gave another wide, evil smile. “Well gee, I’m not totally sure. Who’s fault do you think it is?”

Ragatha’s mouth began to wobble, the doll looking more hurt than Jax had seen her in a long time . Good. This was gonna be quite a show.

“Well it’s certainly not my fault!” Ragatha finally shouted, thrusting her arms down to her sides.

“Oh?” Jax placed his fists on his sides. He turned around and started walking away from her. “So it’s my fault then?”

Ragatha continued to shout from behind him, “Of course not! It’s like Pomni said, it’s not either of our faults, it just happened!”

Well obviously that was the case, Jax realized that long ago. As much as he thought he knew Ribbit, apparently his old buddy had some demons he kept from everyone else. Sure, as terrible at being a friend as Ragatha was, even he couldn’t- wait…

Jax turned slowly back toward Ragatha. His signature smile vanished, replaced with an enraged scowl as he glared hatefully towards the ragdoll. “What do you mean like Pomni said?”

Ragatha flinched back as she gasped. Her mouth went agape as her hands slowly moved up to cover it. She stared back at him wide eyed, her arms beginning to shake as she seemed scared to breathe.

Jax now fully faced Ragatha. With loud, heavy stomps he raised an accusatory finger at her as he approached. “How much did you tell her?”

With each step Jax took forward, Ragatha matched it with a step backward. She did not manage to make it far before she found herself backed into the wall behind her. “Jax listen, I didn’t mean-”

Jax made a swiping motion with his arm to cut her off. He was not going to hear any excuses. “How. Much. Did. You. Tell. Her?”

Ragatha let out a whimper as Jax’s voice steadily grew louder with word. Her mouth opened and closed and repeatedly as she struggled to babble out an answer. “Jax, I’m sorry.”

Jax growled as his scowl grew larger, his face turning red as he roared at her. “How much did you tell her!?”

“Not everything, I swear!” Ragatha screamed, her voice shrill and desperate. “I just told her about us and Ribbit. Please don’t be mad.”

Mad? Jax wasn’t mad. Why would he be? All Dollface did was break the one promise she ever made to him. Just a little gossip with the jester she had been so pathetically desperate to make into another little ball of sunshine. Just a small betrayal from the most conniving and manipulative ragdoll in existence. No, Jax wasn’t mad.

Jax was absolutely, unbelievably furious.

“Of course you did,” Jax hissed out in a low rumble, shaking his head he put his fingers up to his forehead. “I can’t even be surprised, of course you would gossip about me like that!”

Ragatha kept herself pressed to the wall, slowly taking steps to the side to try and put some distance her and the raging rabbit. “I’m really sorry.”

Jax let out a wry laugh as he stared daggers at her. “Oh, I’m sure you are Rags. You’re so sorry that you just can’t stop yourself. Always desperate to worm your way into everybody’s heads, always trying to find a way to trick people into liking you, into being like you!”

A pained wail escaped Ragatha’s lips as she kept backing away. “Jax, please. I didn’t mean to break my promise. Pomni was only trying to help me, and it just came out.”

“As if!” Jax began stomping towards her again, “I know how badly you want Pomni to like you. And I know how much you hate that she likes being around me more.”

Ragatha’s breathing began to grow short and rapid, her eye darting around everywhere as she tried to stammer out a retort. “She-she cares about us both Jax.”

“For now maybe,” Jax hissed venomously. “But let’s be real here, I’m the more fun one to be around. You on the other hand, you always push everyone away with that fake smile and saccharine attitude.”

By now Ragatha had stopped moving. Tears flowed down freely as she hyperventilated. Jax brought his face dangerously close to hers, forcing her to close her eyes as she whimpered fearfully.

“And I’m willing to bet any day now Pomni’s gonna grow just as sick of you as I am.” Jax whispered, “Because you always screw everything up. You can’t do anything right, and I can’t wait to see the fallout when Pomni drops you like a dead horse.”

Jax finally pulled his head away from her, straightening himself out and folding his arms. Ragatha’s entire body hitched, loud choking sobs forcing their way out of her. She turned her body to the side, walking a few paces away from Jax. All the while, Jax merely watched, huffing and scowling as he let his rage simmer.

Ragatha’s eye flew open wide, staring out into the blackness of the hallway as it stretched on. Her chest heaved with each wheezing breath she forced herself to take. Her arms quivered as she brought one hand up to her head and wrapped her other around herself. A violent shiver ran throughout Ragatha’s entire body. Her face began to twitch and she swiftly brought her hand down to cover her mouth. A sickening gurgle sounded off in her throat, with a loud gag accompanying a second body spasm. Ragatha pressed her hand harder onto her mouth to suppress the gagging. She closed her eye, trying to focus and recenter herself, but it was far too late.

Ragatha slapped her hands onto her knees as she leaned forward. With a quick breath, Ragatha retched painfully as she began to empty her stomach onto the ground in front of her. With each heave, more and more of her half-digested poutine spread out across the stone floor. Her painful moans reverberated off the walls as they accompanied the viscous bile, the sound filling her and Jax’s heads. Her abdomen spasmed and forced her to lean down farther as the stream rushed from her with greater intensity.

As the episode finally settled down, Ragatha’s body shook harder as she gasped and sputtered, desperate to suck in whatever air she could. The smell of her own sick trailed into her nose bringing forth an even stronger wave of nausea, and without another moment’s respite, a fresh wave of vomit launched itself out of her mouth.

Standing farther back behind her, Jax could only watch dumbstruck as the doll continued to puke. While he reveled in the idea of clouding Little Miss Sunshine’s day, this was not something he ever would have thought he’d see. He knew he’d hurt her, hell he wanted nothing more than to stick a dagger in her heart as deep as he could. But seeing Ragatha in pain like this, so miserable and pathetic. He’d be lying if he said he found it satisfying.

Eventually Ragatha had finished regurgitating everything she had eaten that day. Jax watched as she stumbled back into the wall, her legs shaking and unsteady. Thumping against it, she slowly slid down until she was seated before bringing her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. With long uneven breaths, she cried silently as she seemed to stare off into nothing.

Jax frowned as he turned away from the sorry sight. Approaching the wall opposite hers, he walked a little ways down to put more distance between him and the doll before taking a seat. He looked down at Croak, who simply stared back up at him, unmoved by the whole display in front of them.

Should he feel guilty about this? Maybe if this were the real world where things still mattered, he would. If consequences still existed outside of the one bad thing that could happen, perhaps Jax could have found a reason to feel sorry for the ragdoll. But none of this was real, it was still just a stupid kids game.

Besides, Ragatha never was someone who stayed angry or sad. She’d go back to being that insipid, overbearing sunspot by tomorrow. Like always she would fall back into the role she was made for, and Jax would have to put with another day of her crap. That was all Ragatha was, nothing more, nothing less.

Yet, even as Jax mulled all of this over in his head, he couldn’t stop the pit forming in his gut. He sighed in frustration as he leaned his head back against the wall. Hopefully the others could find him soon, he could’ve used a round of teasing Zooble, or messing with Gangle. That was all he really needed. If he could just get back to the usual script, things would go back to normal, and Jax would keep surviving.

* * *

Landing on the ground, her mace and Ragatha’s machete gripped tightly in her hands, Pomni turned back towards the fallen monster the group had just slain. Huffing from a mixture of exhaustion and frustration, she bit down harder on the arm she had ripped off of it with her sharpened teeth. She watched with furious narrowed eyes as the boss slowly faded from existence.

This time it had been Orbsman. However instead of a humanoid collection of spheres, his lower half had been morphed into a large snake like creature. That would have been fine enough, if it also weren’t for the fact he had been given an extra pair arms, with all four wielding a ludicrously large scimitar. It had been a rough fight for the group, but between Kinger’s powerful spells and Pomni’s ever growing rage, the orb monster was simply no match for the group.

After Orbsman’s body fully faded away, Pomni spat the arm she held out of her mouth. She sheathed the machete and clipped her mace to her side before running over to Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble. Thankfully, despite all the wild swinging and slashing, nobody had sustained any grievous injuries. Granted the four were a worn out mess, with Zooble caressing their head as they sat against the wall, no doubt nursing a nasty headache. Gangle was at the moment looking through pages of the book Kinger had torn out and given to her, eyes drooping as she hunched over. Kinger himself was the only who didn’t look ready to drop, turning towards Pomni as she joined them.

“Are you guys alright?” She asked.

“No…” Was Zooble’s groaning answer.

“Here it is.” Gangle mumbled before picking her staff up from the ground. Raising it up over her head in one hand, she held up the pages in front of her face with the other. “Healaga!”

From under Pomni’s feet, she saw a circle of shimmering green light form. As quickly as it appeared, it rose up in a curtain of magic and surrounded her. The light covered her body, creating a warm tingling sensation that washed over her. She couldn’t say it was unpleasant, but she didn’t necessarily enjoy it either. Looking down to her arm, she watched as all the little bumps and scrapes she had accumulated during the fights quickly faded away. Just as well, she felt the exhaustion in her body slowly ebb away, replaced with a vigor that made her feel as if she could run a mile.

A quick glance at the others showed her the same was happening with them. Zooble’s eyes lit up, their headache seeming to go away thanks to the healing spell. They stood up and walked over to Gangle, their eyes crinkling as they looked at her sweetly.

“Thanks Gangle, that headache was killing me.” They said as they gave her a grateful pat on the shoulder.

“Oh, you’re welcome!” Gangle hummed, smiling wide at her bestie.

“We all good then?” Pomni asked sharply.

Kinger hummed as he scanned the area around them, “I think so.”

“Good let’s get moving then.” The jester huffed as she turned and trotted forward.

“Pomni, hold on!” She heard Zooble shout from behind her. She turned her head to find Zooble jogging up behind her. “We’ve been going nonstop, don’t you think you should take a minute to calm down.”

Pomni growled as she felt her frustration rise, “No time, Zooble. We gotta find them.”

Zooble gave her an empathetic look, “I know you’re worried about Ragatha and Jax, but I’m sure they’re fine.”

Pomni whirled around to face the trio following her, “But what if they run into another boss or something? Ragatha doesn’t have a weapon, and even she did, she doesn’t have it in her to fight! And who knows what other horrible things Caine’s put in this crap hole.”

This time it was Kinger who spoke up, “Zooble’s right Pomni, getting yourself worked up like this isn’t going to help us find them faster. We should take a minute to gain our bearings and figure out where to go next.”

“But…” Pomni whined as she threw her hands down. They had a point, letting the stress wind her up so much wasn’t doing her any favors. “…Fine.”

Kinger gave her an eye smile as he shuffled past her. He looked out toward the hallway in front of them, which forked off into two separate passages. “We have two ways to go here. One of these paths is probably where we have to take the crystals, but the other might lead us to Jax and Ragatha. What do you guys think we should do?”

Zooble and Gangle stood there staring at Kinger in disbelief. Pomni watched their reactions, holding in a laugh. She had forgotten she was the only one so far who knew about how Kinger functioned in the dark. Walking up next to him, she put a finger to her chin as she thought for minute.

“I guess we could just split up?” She suggested, “Two of us can go down the right path, and the other two take the left?”

“That’s not the worst idea.” Zooble remarked as they snapped back to reality. “But we should probably only go down so far. Maybe give it about ten minutes before we all meet back up here, sooner if anybody runs into trouble.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pomni said.

With that, the four split off to check each passage. Gangle and Zooble took the left side hallway, whilst Kinger and Pomni took the right. The duo walked on in silence, which did little favor for Pomni’s frazzled mind. Before too long however, they came across a long stairwell leading downward. Thanks to the dim lighting, Pomni couldn’t quite make out how far down the bottom was. As apprehensive as it made her, it did ignite a flicker of hope. With any luck, this would lead her straight to Jax and Ragatha.

Her mind set, Pomni immediately started bounding down the stairs two at a time. She could hear Kinger behind, yelling for her to slow down, but the thought of finding her friends left her frenzied. They had to be down here. She needed to see them, to make sure they were okay. Then they would all escape this dungeon and get back home. She and Ragatha would finally finish their talk, maybe have some tea and relax, and things could feel just a tiny bit normal for once.

By this point Pomni had lost track of just how far down she had gotten. Her eyes lifted from the steps she had been so focused on, only to catch a sight that made her heart sink. Slowing down to a stop, she fought down the well of despair that pooled in her throat. She had reached the bottom, only to find the stairs lead straight into a brick wall. Plopping down onto a step, she held her face in her hands as she resisted the urge to cry.

“Of course,” She whined under her breath. “Of f*#$&ng course he’d put that here. God forbid anything go right on this stupid adventure!”

The sound of Kinger coming down the steps brought Pomni out of her stupor. She watched as he examined the wall, a finger held up to where his chin should be. His other hand ran along the wall, whilst he muttered to himself with a voice low enough Pomni couldn’t quite hear him.

“Come on Kinger,” Pomni muttered in defeat as she stood back up. “Just another dead end, we should go meet up with Gangle and Zooble.”

“Hold on Pomni,” Kinger said as he waved her over. “There’s something off about this wall.”

Pomni narrowed her eyes at him questioningly, “What do you mean?”

“Well for one, it’s brick rather stone like the the rest of the dungeon.” He remarked, pointing at a wall to their side. Pomni cocked an eyebrow, but followed where Kinger pointed. Her eyes lit up, he was right!

“Here we go.” Kinger remarked, bringing Pomni’s attention back to him. He leaned down towards the lower corner of the wall. There, Pomni saw one of the bricks jutting out just slightly. If it hadn’t been for Kinger’s attention to detail, she’d have never noticed it.

Kinger pushed the brick inward. As soon it was flush with the rest of the wall, it began to rumble loudly. Pomni watched in astonishment as the bricks slowly began to sink into the floor. As it sunk lower it revealed yet another dark passageway, and Pomni found her hope of finding her friends reignited.

As soon as the wall had finished lowering, Pomni raced through the threshold into the newly revealed room. She looked about frantically, her legs jaunting in every direction. She only stopped when she finally caught a glimpse of a familiar purple rabbit. “Jax!”

Jax looked up at the pair, grunting as he shot them a glib remark, “Well about time you guys got here.”

“There you are,” Pomni breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her friend. “Are you guys okay?”

“Of course,” Jax stood and stretched before placing his hands behind his head. With an aloof expression he pushed his way past Kinger and Pomni and made his way towards the stairs.

“Alright…” Pomni mumbled as she watched the rabbit. She figured it ultimately it wasn’t worth paying too much concern. Given Jax had just spent a fair amount of time with the circus mate he got along the worst with, him being in a mood wasn’t too surprising. Speaking of, where was that doll- “Ragatha!?”

Upon spotting her, Pomni ran over to Ragatha as quick as she could. The sight of the older woman, huddled up against the wall shivering, her knees tightly held to her chest, the thousand yard stare, all worried Pomni far more than anything this dungeon could throw at her. Ragatha had already been through so much the last day and a half…

As she drew close, Pomni had to suddenly stop and gag, a foul smell batting her in the face. Covering her mouth and where her nose should have been, she looked out past Ragatha to find the source of the stench. A strong wave of nausea ran through her as she caught sight of the large puddle of vomit on the floor. Was all of that from Ragatha? Is that why she looked so meek and distressed? Was she sick? Could people get sick in the Digital Circus? Just what the hell happened here?

Pomni jumped as she caught sight of Kinger next to her all of a sudden. Scratching the back of his head, he shuffled over to her, mumbling quietly. “Oh wow, you alright Ragatha?”

A whimper was the only sound Ragatha made, which made Pomni’s stomach churn harder. Kinger knelt down to her side and gingerly placed a hand on Ragatha’s shoulder. Much to Pomni’s shock, Ragatha flinched hard, scooting away from chess piece as she yelped out in fear. Tears welled in her eyes before she buried her face in her legs. Her cries were quiet, but not so much that Pomni couldn’t still hear them in the stillness that surrounded them. It broke her heart to see her friend like this.

“Hey you guys coming or what?”

Pomni turned to the sound of Jax’s voice as he shouted from the stairs, calling back. “Jax, what happened to Ragatha?”

Jax shrugged, his face and voice neutral. “I’unno.”

Pomni stared hard at him, vexed by just how detached he sounded. “Weren’t you down here with her the whole time?”

Her question was met with a groan as he rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately. Couldn’t tell ya why she’s acting like Saddy all of a sudden.”

“Anyway,” Jax stretched his arms out and cracked his neck, “I don’t know about you Poms, but I’m ready to get back to the action and finish this mission. We should head out.”

Pomni looked back to Ragatha, eyeing her for a second. “I don’t think Ragatha’s in any shape to move right now.”

“So just leave her.”

Pomni snapped her attention back to Jax, mouth agape in disbelief. “You can’t be serious Jax!”

“She’s useless in a fight anyway,” Jax remarked with a gesture towards Ragatha. “And with her being all ‘woe-is-me’ she’s just gonna slow everything down.”

Pomni shook her head, “I really don’t think she should be alone right now, though.”

“Why not?” Jax huffed scornfully. “It’s not like this’ll take us that much longer. Caine will just warp her back to the tent once we’re done anyway. She’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know…” Pomni muttered with a sigh. Jax kind of had a point. With how scarily well the two of them did as a team, whatever was left to fight shouldn’t be that big of an issue.

She looked back towards Ragatha, gripping on to her arm and rubbing it as she watched the doll’s breakdown. Could she really stomach leaving her behind…again? The memory of her first day in the circus flashed through her mind. Watching Ragatha being thrown around like the ragdoll that she was, beaten until she was a glitching mess in pure agony. The way Pomni tried to help her, only to run away as the abstracted Kaufmo gave chase, threatening to deal her the same fate. Promising Ragatha to find help, only to abandon her over the false hope of leaving the circus forever.

Sure, Ragatha had said she was all good, and Pomni knew the woman wouldn’t allow herself to hold a grudge. It wasn’t like Pomni’s actions weren’t understandable, given her circumstances. Even still, Pomni could never think back to that day without immense guilt pooling into her stomach.

Turning away from Jax and heading back towards Ragatha, Pomni made up her mind. Her friend needed her, and Pomni would never abandon her like that again. “Sorry Jax, just go on ahead without me. We’ll catch up to you as soon as we can.”

Jax clicked his tongue, throwing his hands up as he turned back for the stairs. “Fine, suit yourself. More goons for me to tear up.”

Stepping over to Ragatha’s side opposite Kinger, Pomni knelt down beside her. Ragatha didn’t move, as if completely unaware of the jester’s presence. Pomni chewed on her lip, fists clenching repeatedly as she tried to think of what to do. A simple hug wasn’t gonna fix this, not when Ragatha couldn’t handle even the slightest touch. Not that Pomni didn’t understand that all too well. On her best days she could usually only tolerate simple touches at best. Even then it had to be someone she trusted knew her boundaries.

Scooting herself a little closer, Pomni brought her head level with Ragatha’s. “Ragatha, what happened?”

Ragatha didn’t answer, and as Pomni waited, her nerves only grew stronger. She had to try again. “Ragatha, it’s Pomni, Kinger’s here too. Can you tell us what happened?”

Still nothing, Ragatha only tightened her grip on herself. Pomni’s hands started to shake as she felt her anxiety build. She couldn’t touch her, but it was getting clear Pomni needed to do something drastic to snap her out of this. The problem was she simply didn’t have any answers as to why Ragatha was in such a state, and what she needed most. Without those answers, Pomni was at a loss.

There had to be something Pomni could do. She’d try anything to help get Ragatha back to her cheerful, smiling self. She couldn’t stand seeing her friend so hurt, so broken down. She thought back to her own childhood. To the little girl huddled in her room, scared of the world around her. An image frighteningly similar to the one in front of her. It was there she remembered her fathers, and her favorite thing they would always do to help carry her through those nights and melt her fears away.

…It was worth a shot.

Taking a steadying breath, she looked up at Kinger, still silently watching Ragatha. “Hey, Kinger?”

He looked over to her curiously. “Yes?”

Pomni rubbed the back of her head nervously. “W-would you mind giving me and Ragatha some time alone? Just for a little bit.”

Kinger looked back down, carefully studying Ragatha for a moment, before nodding. “Sure, I won’t be far if you need me though.”

Pomni nodded as she smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Kinger nodded back before standing up. He gave one last worried glance to Ragatha before turning around and heading for the stairs. Pomni watched him leave, waiting until he was far enough out. Once she was certain he was out of earshot, Pomni shifted to sit up against the wall. Sitting as close to Ragatha as she could, Pomni closed her eyes before taking in a long steadying breathe.

“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer due…”

“I’m half crazy all for the love of you…”

Her face went red as she tried to keep her voice steady. It had been such a long time since Pomni last sang in front of other people. On her drive to work she’d belt out whatever tunes were on her playlist at the top of her lungs, but otherwise she never really had much confidence in her voice. But if it could break through to Ragatha, she had to try.

“It won’t be a stylish marriage, I can’t afford a carriage…”

“But you’d look sweet, upon the seat, of a bicycle built for two…”

Having finished, Pomni opened her eyes to see Ragatha’s reaction. She found older woman, head tilted upwards staring intensely at her. Her eye wide as a light blush dusted her cheeks. Feeling her own face grow hotter, Pomni looked away as she played with her hair bashfully.

After an agonizingly long moment, Ragatha finally spoke up, her voice small and timid. “Your voice is beautiful.”

Pomni squeaked as she scratched her cheek. “T-thank you…”

“I didn’t know you could sing.” Ragatha said with a tiny laugh.

“Yeah..” Pomni sighed as she clasped her hands together. “I uh-I was in choir as a kid. All the way through high school actually.”

Ragatha hummed as she nodded her head. “That’s awesome.”

Pomni fidgeted with her hands as she tried to think of something else to say. “Didn’t you have a piano in your room? Do you play music too?”

Ragatha nodded her head, but said nothing. The conversation was dying, and Pomni was desperate to try to keep it going. “Uh, w-what kind of music did you listen to, you know, before the circus?”

Ragatha sighed through her nose, taking a moment to contemplate her answer. “Well, I got into a lot of alt rock as a teenager.”

“Wait, really?” Pomni blinked a couple times in surprise. “I…wasn’t expecting that. That’s pretty cool, what bands?”

Ragatha stared off with a wistful look in her eye, a small smile finally gracing her lips. “Well, a friend showed me a bunch of them back in middle school. Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Linkin Park. My favorite was always Evanescence.”

Pomni smiled wide at that. “No way, I love that band!”

Ragatha perked up even more, lifting her head up from her knees. “Really, I’m so glad to hear that! Amy Lee has such an amazing voice!”

“Oh yeah, her singing is incredible.” Pomni concurred, “Honestly, she was probably one of my first celebrity crushes. Well, one of the very few, at least.”

“Same here,” Ragatha admitted, her voice growing a little more lively. “She’s just as beautiful as her music.”

Pomni nodded in agreement. The conversation died again, but at least Ragatha seemed to have somewhat recovered. The two sat quietly, with Pomni contemplating on what to do next. Even if Jax had rejoined the group by now, they likely would need her help too.

“I guess we should probably get moving, huh?” Ragatha mumbled suddenly.

It shocked Pomni to hear that. She eyed the doll worriedly, carefully regarding her condition. “Are you sure you’re good to go?”

“Y-yeah…” Ragatha slowly stood up, though her legs shook, with her needing to place a hand on the wall to steady herself.

Pomni shot up, her hands out ready to catch Ragatha if she lost her footing. “Whoa, easy there. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I’m fine Pomni, really.” Ragatha grumbled, taking her hand off the wall. She straightened herself out and gave the jester a wide smile. “See? I’m perfectly fine.”

She was definitely not fine, Pomni knew that for a fact. She wanted to press Ragatha, to learn what was going on in that plush head, and to make her take things slowly. She knew better though. Ragatha was stubborn, and given the sensitive state she was in, Pomni didn’t want to risk making things worse and causing her any more distress.

Thus, the two slowly began to make their way up the stairway to find the others. Pomni kept just a step behind Ragatha, watching her intently. If Ragatha noticed, she didn’t make a show of it. The climb was mostly silent, save for some more idle chatter about music. Ragatha had kept herself mostly steady, but Pomni did notice whenever her legs would wobble and her pace falter.

Soon enough they were approaching the top of the stairs. Pomni was a little surprised to find Kinger wasn’t there. He was just as worried about Ragatha as she was, though it was possible, if not likely, that Jax or maybe Zooble or Gangle had distracted him. Even with the dimness of the dungeon allowing the chess piece to gain better control of his mental faculties, Pomni imagined he still wasn’t quite all there yet.

As they approached the final steps, Ragatha turned back to Pomni, staring at her with a neutrality Pomni couldn’t read. Had she caught on to what Pomni was doing? Perhaps she felt she was being coddled and was bothered by it. God knows Pomni hated it when people hovered over her like that. Though she couldn’t say she was ever found in a fetal position next to a large pool of vomit.

She didn’t any more have time to ruminate on this, though. As soon as Ragatha stepped on the final stair, her foot slipped off and kicked out from under her. Flailing her arms around and hopping, she tried to regain her balance, but failed miserably. Pomni reacted as fast as she could, lunging towards Ragatha and grabbing her by her torso. The problem was, as light as Ragatha’s cotton and cloth body was, Pomni had practically no weight to her to be able to act as a counterbalance, and the two wound up falling together.

Throwing herself sideways, Pomni managed to twist around so that she wound up under Ragatha and hit the ground first, her armor clanking loudly against the stone floor. She managed, just barely, to keep her head from slamming into the ground, though the impact certainly hadn’t felt pleasant on her back. With a groan, she peered up at Ragatha, who now held herself off the ground. Their gazes locked, with Ragatha panting as her face went a deep red. Pomni thought for a moment she almost looked panicked.

“Are you alright, Raga-” Pomni yelped as she found herself being cut off, a pair of lips crashing desperately onto hers.