Chapter Text
Bright flashes of white pain seared through Pomni’s vision and when she tried to open her eyes, she found she couldn’t. Phantom sensations invasively roamed her body, and she felt trapped despite there being nothing to hold her down.
Her brain went into overdrive, breaths short and ragged forcing their way out of her lungs.
In her panic, she swung her legs instinctively over the side of her bed and stood up abruptly, stars patching her vision through the darkness. She stumbled blindly around the room looking for a light. That was until her foot accidentally caught on one of the stray building blocks littering her floor, and she unceremoniously fell to the ground with a groan.
A nightmare. It had just been a nightmare.
Nights like these had been happening more often than not ever since Pomni entered the void on her first day in the Circus, and she still had yet to find a way to stop them.
Every night she would wake up with phantom pains that would linger with her into the daytime, and that would only leave her briefly before the day came to a close again. It was becoming routine– a routine that she was growing to dread each passing day.
Not even the daily adventures Caine planned could distract her from them recently.
Pomni assumed the pains were from the nightmares, but she never remembered anything about them when she woke up, so she couldn’t even begin to guess what would trigger such a reaction. There was nothing in her past that would cause her to react so adversely to touch.
Well… not that she knew of. It’s not like she remembered anything from her life outside the Circus.
Plus, she wasn’t sure how nightmares could cause her physical pain. Nothing really made sense in this new world though, so she supposed there was no real way of knowing how her body and mind worked here.
She did know one thing though, and it was that not letting the others find out about all of this was her main priority. It was the one thing that could bring her solace despite this whole situation. However, she might have been failing in that department, the bags under her eyes a dead giveaway of her lack of sleep. She felt like a joke. The jester outfit she donned suddenly felt a lot more fitting.
Pomni stayed on the ground, breathing slowing as she got ahold of her surroundings. Nights in the Digital Circus had been the hardest on her, thoughts often wandering into bad territory when she was left to her own devices. She took it back, maybe Caine’s activities were helping her ignore the neverending panic that had been constantly building since she was brought here.
Finally getting up from the floor, Pomni shook her head, bells jingling from the stupid hat she was made to wear day in and day out. She gingerly moved her aching leg, making sure there was no damage done after her earlier fall. With one final check, she proceeded to turn on her light and look around. Nothing had changed. She was in her room. There was nothing to be afraid of.
Pomni took a deep breath of relief and went to sit on her bed for the remainder of the night. It had become a habit. After she woke up from one of her night terrors, she found it helped to calm her down a bit before she tried sleeping a little more.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to find any kind of peace here, a faint knock sounding throughout her room. She tensed.
While she found it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the other members of the circus to be out and about throughout the night, it wasn’t often they knocked on her door. In fact, it had only happened one other time when she accidentally made too much noise. It had been one of her first nights there, and she got off pretty easy because she had been in the midst of a panic attack.
To be fair, it was a totally normal reaction. At least that’s how she saw it. The others were far too laid back. They should be trying to find ways to escape, not trying to fit into this unwelcoming abstract world.
As Pomni reached out to open the door, it violently flung open with a squeal of the hinges causing her to flinch back in response to the sudden movement. The now opened door revealed none other than Jax standing on the other side looking uncharacteristically serious.
He was quick to mask it though, his douchey persona taking the reins. “Hey, shortstack. Caine said he needed us pronto. Some kind of important meeting or something?” He looked down at her with his signature shit eating smile. “I dunno, I just hope it’s entertaining.”
Jax wasn’t fooling anyone tonight, especially not her. The way he carried himself said it all. His shoulders hunched slightly forward and the bags under his eyes more prominent than usual. There was also a slight line of fear creasing his forehead, more than evident beneath his laidback facade he was attempting to display.
Much like the others, Pomni chose to ignore it. Bringing up emotions around Jax–although she had hardly tried up to this point–had proven to be relatively futile. She would just take his worry as the warning it was. That something bad was happening, especially if Jax of all people was grabbing her this late in the night.
“A-alright, let’s go then.” Pomni replied, wringing her hands together in a nervous gesture. Caine never would have called them out at a time like this if it wasn’t something important. If she had learned anything this past month in the Circus, it was that. Nothing slipped past him, which meant no problems for anyone in return. Just a peaceful life where they were left imprisoned forever.
Okay, so there were definitely some problems, but Pomni knew it was better to ignore them now for the sake of her sanity.
Jax and Pomni hurried down the hall to the stage area where everyone else was already gathered. Pomni attempted to question Jax on their walk there, but he refused to reveal the real reason she was woken up so early. She gave up pretty quickly and they walked in silence until finally, they made it to their destination.
The main area was the same as usual, Caine floating idly with Bubble by the red draped curtains up on the stage, while everyone else stood below on the tiled floor. Looking at it from this angle, the power imbalance between them and the AI was abundantly clear. Caine’s natural air of superiority did little to help his cause.
At the sight of everyone else, Jax’s cheshire smile widened on his face, although with much less luster than usual. The first thing Pomni noticed about the others was the visible exhaustion that radiated off of them.
She supposed she wasn’t the only one with mussed hair and eye bags now. It made her feel a little bit better about her own sorry state, but how had she not noticed the drastic change in their appearances? Was this an effect from the early morning or was it something more long term? She decided not to dwell on it as she scurried over to stand next to Ragatha who greeted her with a warm smile.
With all of them gathered, Caine flew around the group twirling excitedly. “All right now that everyone’s here, I have an announcement to make! Hold onto your pants people because this is gonna be a big one!” He started. Pomni could’ve swore she heard Zooble sigh behind her, but Caine continued too quickly for her to fully register it.
“There has been a slight malfunction in the software with your headsets, something with HQ tampering with the master code…, but regardless, now I can see every one of your deepest darkest memories! From the first time you wet the bed to the last time you tripped and publicly embarrassed yourself by dropping leeewd artwork all over the ground!” Caine’s eyes floated away from his mouth, until they were right next to Gangle. They slowly shifted to look at her sideways. Understanding the implications, the girl squeaked and covered her face with her ribbons.
Jax snarked at that, and Caine concluded his montage, eyes snapping back into place as if nothing happened. “I have access to it all!” Silence followed the revelation as they all processed what Caine just said.
No one knew what to say in response. Except everyone was thinking the same thing– “What the f$#@ are you talking about?” Zooble loudly voiced.
Caine’s face contorted in displeasure until he poofed out of existence and appeared again right in front of Zooble. “Ah ah my friend. Cursing is prohibited in the Digital Circus, and I feel I’ve already made myself abundantly clear!” Pomni could already feel a headache coming on. “I can see your memories.” He smiled sinisterly, no empathy behind those cold, fake, blue and green eyes.
This is when the panic truly began to set in, and the group started murmuring amongst themselves. Pomni turned to Ragatha and Jax. Ragatha looked just as distressed as Pomni felt, while Jax, always the enigma, wore a blank, unreadable expression which only helped to make the pit in her stomach grow larger.
“You guys don’t think he’s actually gonna do anything to us, do you?” Pomni muttered under her breath, and Ragatha turned to her sharply.
“No! I mean it's Caine after all, he would never do anything to purposefully hurt us. R-right?” Ragatha hesitantly asked, a slight quiver to her voice. It didn’t inspire much confidence in Pomni.
“Not purposefully.” Jax repeated, still looking forward into nothing. Pomni had never seen him so stoic, it was almost unsettling how unresponsive he was being. She reached her hand out to touch his arm in a comforting gesture. When her glove met his fur he reeled back, staring down at her with small pupils and deep creases under his eyes.
He looked scared.
“Jax?” Pomni questioned, but was quickly shut down.
“Would you just-” He snapped, but was quick to cut himself off. In a moment, his eyes glazed over and the smile returned. “See. I’m happy and normal. This is fine.” He pointed a finger towards his phoney grin and turned his back to her as if trying to leave it at that.
Tight lipped as ever, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. She could see through his act. It wasn’t exactly hard to, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was making him realize it was just an act, and that nobody cared for it. Before she could allow her mind to spend too much time on the thought, she shook her head and left it at that for both of their sakes.
Still, his beaming smile looking severely uncanny paired with the distant look in his eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul, her mind supplied and a shiver went down her spine. Where had she heard that before?
Pomni took a step back. Her brain felt scrambled, like she could feel thoughts trying to come to her that didn’t want to surface. Like forgetting something you were just about to do, and not being able to remember it, leaving you wondering what it was. She and the others couldn't remember anything leading up to their time in the Circus. How would Caine handle this information? He better not-
“Alright gang! So would you like to know what you were up to in your past lives!?” Caine exclaimed, rubbing his gloved hands together with a mischievous glint to his eyes.
“D-do we have to?” Gangle muttered miserably. Her ribbons trembled slightly as she spoke. “I feel like it might be better if we just stayed how we were. What if we remember something d-dangerous?” She whispered the last word as if she was going to be shouted at for even suggesting it.
It seemed Gangle was somewhat right about her assumption as Jax sauntered up behind her and knocked her over, effectively breaking her comedy mask. Gangle whimpered gently cradling broken pieces. Zooble quickly moved between them, crouching down to help Gangle up from the floor, flipping Jax off. He threw them both a disdainful glance before saying, “I think it’s a good idea to see our memories. What if it gives a clue on how to get out of here? Plus, it could be interesting.” His hands went to rest on his hips.
Zooble stood with Gangle, and made a face before saying, “For once you kind of have a good point Jax. Maybe we should see them.” They put a hand up to their nonexistent mouth in thought. “I mean, Caine could be lying, but if we don’t check it out it would be a waste.” They looked at the rest of the group to gauge their reactions. They all averted their gazes unsure of what to do, and not wanting to be the one to make the choice.
All except for Kinger who raised a hand as he spoke slowly, “It’s okay if all of the doors in front of you are closed because there are always many that will open if you try hard enough. I’d personally pick the blue one though.” Everyone stared for a second, before Ragatha coughed into her hand awkwardly.
“Um, I think it might be smart for us all to vote. Majority wins?” She suggested sheepishly. The others started to discuss, but their voices turned to mush in Pomni’s head as she thought about their options.
Would it be a smart choice to remember? Or should they leave themselves in ignorant bliss as they live out the rest of their lives in the Circus? Pomni’s eyes became swirls, and she remembered her dream from earlier that night, the phantom touches still leaving traces all over her body.
She wanted to know. She needed to know.
Pomni understood she couldn’t be left in the dark any longer. If she left it up for her own interpretation any longer she may really go insane. These past few nights had been indicators enough. A hand on her shoulder quickly jerked her out of her thoughts, and she flinched violently back to reality.
Stumbling backwards, she fell roughly on the ground. She opened her eyes and saw a man with neat brown hair and malicious eyes. His mouth curved upward in a sinister smile, seemingly happy to see her beneath him. The black pinstripe suit he wore–a true symbol of his superiority–made her wince for a reason she couldn’t place. She wasn’t able to make anything else in the memory out before she was thrust back to the colorful scenery of the circus.
She was on the floor a shaking mess. Despite being in a digital world, falling still unfortunately hurt just as much as it would if she had done it in her real body. Pomni blinked hard and looked up to see Kinger’s oblivious eyes, his hand still in the position it had been when he first touched her.
Looking around, it didn’t seem like anybody else noticed her slight panic. They were all gathered in a small circle now, a bit away from her and Kinger were.
“Oh! Pomni, you scared me.” What did he mean? He was the one who snuck up on her.
She wiped her hands off on her costume as she stood up, her wide eyes meeting Kinger’s. “We were all voting. I thought you might want to join in.”
“Voting on what?” She asked, rubbing the sore spot she landed on.
“If we should see our memories or not.”
“What!?”
“You heard him Pom Pom, it’s two to two right now we needja to vote.” Jax walked towards her and leaned over, but she stood tall. Well as tall as you can stand when you’re almost two feet shorter than the person you’re standing off against. His intimidation tactics wouldn’t work on her, she wouldn’t let them.
“Alright you two.”
Ragatha came between them. She pushed Jax away and turned to Pomni. “Gangle and I voted against remembering, while Jax and Zooble voted for it. Kinger said he didn’t want to vote…” They looked over at him to see him building up a new pillow fort. When he noticed their stares, he smiled softly with his eyes and waved. “Uh, said something about how his judgment was clouded because he’s been here so long.”
“So, I’m the tie breaker?”
“Mhm! Don’t let our votes change your mind though. Just pick what you feel is right!”
Pomni pinched the bridge of her nose. Well, if she had a nose she would be pinching it. “God, uh, do I have to?” She glanced around at the others who were waiting expectantly, then turned to Caine who seemed to be talking privately with Bubble. Sighing, she knew what she truly wanted. She’d known since she entered this stupid world.
Raising her head, she looked back to the others. “I think we should remember. How else are we going to find a way out of here?” Ragatha frowned at her, but didn’t protest. Pomni felt bad for her, and she gave her a sympathetic glance as a show of apology. In hindsight, maybe she had made the wrong choice. Ragatha had done nothing, but be supportive of her since she’d shown up in the circus, the least she could do was take her side.
But that wasn’t what she wanted. The final vote was her say. Pomni realized she shouldn’t feel bad about having an opinion. Still, Ragatha’s dejected expression grated at her, and she couldn’t help but change her mind for the woman.
“Actually, I-”
“Wonderful choice Pomni.” Jax cut her off, and she gave him an unamused look. “Hey, Caine! We finally decided.” His voice drawled. Zooble groaned, a hand running down their face in annoyance at his very presence.
Gangle hesitantly reached a hand up to Zooble’s shoulder, and they looked down, eyes wide, but not unreceptive.
Caine teleported directly in front of Gangle and she shrieked. The moment ended as soon as it started, as she pulled away from Zooble and flew backwards falling to the ground again in a tangle of ribbons. “Finally done are we? Took ya long enough!” He stuck his tongue out goofily. The room remained awkwardly silent.
Ragatha was the first to speak up. “So, how are we going to remember?”
“Through an adventure of course!” Caine responded, unfazed by the tension that now hung around the group.
Why another adventure? It’s always a stupid adventure. Was all Pomni could think before Kinger poked his head out of his fort.
“Oooh! What kind of adventure?”
“I’m so glad you asked! This adventure will be one of a kind.” Caine wiggled his fingers mysteriously. “You will all be going through each other’s memories together!”
The room erupted into chaos.
“What do you mean? That isn’t what you promised.” Jax said hurriedly. He seemed visibly nervous, the static energy in the room not going over his head this time. His typically lax shoulders now stood on high alert and his ears perked straight up in distress. Pomni itched to reach out and soothe that fear, but knew better than to try.
There was nothing she could do that he would listen to anyways. Plus, her stomach weighed heavy with guilt. Was it now her fault their memories were going to be aired out to each other? What if there was stuff that they didn’t want to share? Would they just be forced to accept it becoming a shared memory?
Caine cut off her train of thought, responding to Jax, “Why of course it is!” He flew up to the stage and began to pace back and forth through the air. “You all wanted your memories back, and I’m going to give them to you. Isn’t this all you ever wanted!? You complain about not remembering, and when I give you the option you don’t want to take it? Humans will never fail to stop surprising me.” With a confused rub of his chin, he decided to move past the thought.
“It will also serve as a lovely team bonding exercise.” Pomni thought she was going to be sick. “Alrighty! Let me load the simulation.” Caine’s eyes glitched out, turning blue with white text floating across them. The Circus began to warp around them.
Pomni’s breath shallowed out. She could still feel the presence of the others around her shouting out in protest, but it did little to stop what had already been set in stone.
Did she make the wrong choice? Her hands began to shake and she felt the world melt around her, everyone’s voices distorting with the shifting of their codes. The last thing she remembered was Ragatha weakly reaching out to her with a panic-stricken face, and receiving an unremorseful wink from Caine. Their shouts faded to nothingness, and everything went black.
—
“P–ni”
Someone was slapping her face with the back of their hand. Trying to wake her up she assumed, but it was futile at the moment. Her head and body were too heavy to do much of anything as her brain tried to power itself back on.
Suddenly, the slapping was cut short by a high pitched yelling in the distance. She must have passed out or something, her brain dumbly supplied. As her mind tried to come back to itself, she heard voices above her.
“You can’t just hit people! God, Jax can’t you take anything seriously?” A voice scolded.
“Nah, it’s more fun when there’s violence and pain. Don’t you agree Zoobs?”
“Don’t drag me into this.”
“Aw you don’t wanna associate yourself with little ol’ me?”
“Shh, stop talking. She's waking up.”
Pomni blinked her eyes open to see Ragatha, Jax, and Zooble hovering over her. She quickly jolted up, embarrassed from the eyes on her, and Zooble held onto her back to keep her steady. “You’re okay. Just take it easy.” They said as they helped Pomni up from her spot on the ground.
Looking around, they seemed to be on the outside of one of many large office buildings that lined the street. The building closest to them stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only one that wasn’t helping to light the streets up to combat the darkness from the night sky. A sinister dark patch among the numerous much more welcoming buildings.The streets were eerily quiet.
Gee, she wondered where Caine wanted them to go. It wasn’t like he was making it abundantly obvious.
To her right Kinger was staring out into nothing. He reached his hand out in front of him and what looked like a map boundary stopped it from going any further. The invisible wall rippled with the contact and Kinger put a hand up to his chin in thought.
She could have laughed at the absurdity of it all.
A loud scream made them all jump. Just a few feet over in the opposite direction, Gangle awakened with a fright. She seemed shaken, and Pomni couldn’t blame her as she felt the same.
Pomni didn’t think she’d ever get used to this place, but also, more specifically, the digital teleportation. Still feeling nauseous from her most recent bout, she clutched at her stomach. Ragatha reached a hand out to help her up from the ground and she graciously took it.
They all formed a circle to talk about their next move, the situation making them weary to make any brash decisions. All except for Jax, who impatiently went into the building leaving them behind.
“See ya folks later!” He said with a smile as he slid through the doors in front of them. The group exchanged a glance before they collectively groaned, begrudgingly following after him.
The inside of the building was no less foreboding than the outside, especially with the only source of light coming from the windows. Their footsteps echoed in the spacious hallways.
“I don’t like this place.” Gangle spoke quietly, tears from her tragedy mask slipping down her face. She walked with her arms hugging her sides in the closest form of comfort she could get. As if that would protect her from whatever was to come. Gangle probably knew realistically it wouldn’t do anything for her, but it was the thought that counted.
Zooble took a step closer to Gangle and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Gangle looked up at them appreciatively. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. We just have to complete the adventure and get out just like usual.”
Sensing the small woman’s spiral, Zooble pulled Gangle a little bit closer, and she let out a small squeak. “Are you going to be okay?” They asked, moving to hold one of Gangle’s shaking hands instead of her shoulder.
Gangle’s eyes snapped up to Zooble’s in surprise, a faint blush coating her cheeks. “Y-yeah, I think so. Thank you, Zooble.”
They were so obvious. Pomni had only been in the Circus for about a month and she had already picked up on the tension between them. She understood maybe this wasn’t the best place to forge romantic relationships—almost like the no sex in the workplace policy—, but they seemed to get along just fine.
She just wished one of them would make a move past subtle flirting. Silently rooting for them wasn’t really doing it for her anymore.
Kinger looked longingly at them from behind. His eyes spoke of a time long since forgotten by most of the Circus. They made eye contact and it seemed he shared her sentiment.
Pomni thought of Queenie.
She hesitantly reached up to tap his shoulder and he looked down at her eyes wide. He was becoming more lucid in the dark building, she could tell, but he still wasn’t fully there. The tiniest of smiles lifted her cheeks in a show of comfort for the older man. Kinger was quick to catch on, his eyes scrunching into happy crescents, an understanding passing between the two of them.
They were content to walk in silence next to each other, but it seemed Ragatha had other plans, walking up besides Pomni with a worried expression. She gestured with a movement of her head for Pomni to fall back away from the group a bit, so they could talk. Pomni looked up at her with confusion knitting her brows, but Ragatha’s pleading eyes won her over almost instantly.
As they slowed their pace taking up the rear of the group, Ragatha started fidgeting with her hands, her nerves taking over. It was a feeling Pomni knew all too well. The doll kept glancing at her, then averting her vision. Pomni sighed, having had enough of the silence, “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”
Ragatha jumped at the sudden question, like she hadn’t been expecting Pomni to speak first. “I-yeah, there is. It’s just… Do you really think this is a good idea?” Her voice wavered over the syllables, and Pomni felt the guilt eat at her once more.
But she knew her answer. She knew what she wanted and she had already promised herself she wouldn’t let anyone else change that. Her resolve had hardened since she had first entered the Circus. Now, more than ever, she felt strong enough to speak up for herself.
“Yeah. It’s nothing against you, I just… I think this is important. Like it’s something we need to know. What if it helps us escape?” Pomni reasoned.
Ragatha’s brow furrowed impossibly further. “I have a really bad feeling about this Pomni. We can still turn back. We can still choose not to remember.” She rambled on, and Pomni frowned. There had to be some reason Ragatha was feeling this way, especially since she wasn’t one to be so adamant about something after being told ‘no’.
Pomni turned to Ragatha and saw fear and worry crease the woman’s face. Small lines that stood out against her usually perfect, plush skin. “From my point of view, I think it’s better to remember than to forget things forever. We can only grow as people if we build off of our past mistakes. If we can’t remember those mistakes, how are we supposed to grow into better versions of ourselves?”
There was a slight pause while Ragatha digested the words. Her eyes held an internal conflict swirling a tempest storm that gnawed at her nerves till tension riddled her body. Pomni wasn’t sure if Ragatha even knew what was causing the turmoil.
“We’ll be okay.” Pomni offered her a reassuring look.
Ragatha looked at her with wide eyes which quickly softened, understanding finally overcoming her. “Alright, if you say so.” There was still that fear, but it was lessened by Pomni’s words that seemed to send a ripple of calm through her body.
They didn’t have their memories. Pomni wasn’t sure what could be making the woman so paranoid. Maybe…?
“Ragatha?” Pomni spoke, softening her voice for the doll. Despite that, she still flinched harshly at the sudden noise. “Have you been having nightma-”
“Oh! Look who found me!” Jax’s voice boomed throughout the hallways completely cutting off her train of thought.
Ragatha must have also forgotten as she stormed forward, hands in clenched fists at her side. The fast change in demeanor gave Pomni whiplash. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to stick with us.” Ragatha scolded. Jax just continued on, ignoring her as she continued telling him off.
When Ragatha finally finished sharing her admonishments with Jax, they all went silent, continuing to walk through the dimly lit hallways. The tiled floor made their footsteps echo, the sound engulfing them while they explored. Every now and then there would be a large hole in the drywall or a strange stain in the wallpaper, but from what they had seen the first floor was empty aside from their group roaming.
Occasionally, Jax would interrupt the silence with a snarky remark about the lackluster interior design. To his credit, the building was pretty empty. Pomni wondered if Caine had gotten too lazy to add more assets or if this was merely how the office appeared in the real world. If it was a copy of its real world counterpart, did that mean that it was abandoned? It was either that or the occupants had poor taste. She didn’t know which was worse.
Eventually, after searching the first floor, they found themselves going up to the second. Pomni had a bad feeling building in her gut, but before she could say anything they had finished their ascent and were entering into the next room.
It was completely different from the first floor, seemingly lived in, but it was a total mess. This area more greatly resembled an office, with cubicles lining the floor and shoddy office carpet on the floor. Scattered across said floor were papers that had spilled out of knocked over filing cabinets. The papers contained names and addresses of clients and employees alike. There was a line of computers against the back wall one of them was lit casting the room in an eerie glow.
They all spread around the room to investigate different things, all making a silent agreement to avoid the computer for the time being.
Pomni picked up one of the papers from the floor. Listed on the top of the page was the name Lucy Baker. The image at the bottom showed a headshot of a young woman in her late twenties with straight brown hair that fell delicately over her shoulders. Her eyebrows were pulled taut, and her smile seemed weary and unsure.
“It’s kind of strange.” A voice behind her pondered. Pomni jumped, sucking in a breath.
“Hah! Did I scare you? Toughen up Shortstack.” Next to her, Jax smirked wickedly while picking up a paper by his foot on the floor. “These must be real people otherwise Caine wouldn’t have put them in here.” He wondered, moving to put an elbow on top of her head. She yelped in surprise, almost losing her balance at the change in weight, then glared up at Jax as best she could at the awkward angle.
Ignoring her obvious irritation, he continued, “The names… they seem so familiar, but I don’t recognize any of these people.” He freed her from her duty as an arm rest and set the paper down gently onto the desk closest to them.
Pomni crossed her arms looking up at him. His smile only seemed to widen. “These have to have some signifi-” She started, but was cut off by a sharp pain in her head. It felt like her skull was being sawed in half, trying to open her brain to pick through her mind. One hand instinctively shot up to nurture the pain and the other gripped one of the desks as she leaned forward with a groan.
Jax just smirked, “Aw, did I really destroy your pride that badly. C’mon Pomni, grow a pair.” He waited a moment for a response, but when he realized he wasn’t getting one his voice grew concerned. “Pomni?”
Pinpricks littered her skin, the slightest movement setting her on fire. She could feel her body moving heavily, trying to do anything to prevent the inevitable, but it was futile. Her insides flashed hot, then cold, then nothing at all, leaving sweat dripping down her face as she tried to orient herself.
Before Jax could do anything to help, Ragatha was already on top of it, briskly heading towards them. “Pomni? Are you alright- agh.” Also now seemingly taken over by this mystery ailment, her body violently hunched forward in obvious discomfort.
One by one all of them were overcome with the same feeling, holding their heads and groaning. The continuous assault on Pomni’s mind made her vision blotchy, and eventually she found herself on the ground not being able to remember fully how she got there. This wasn’t how Caine’s teleportation usually felt, so she concluded, in her muddled mind, it had to be something else. Unfortunately, the nausea was a side effect of whatever this was too.
“Ugh, what the hell is this?” Zooble complained as they fell to their knees.
“I don’t know, my head is pounding. F$#%!” Jax shouted.
“Gangle! Gangle!! Are you okay!?”
There was a thump in the distance. Pomni couldn’t make out their words anymore. Her vision faded completely, and everything went dark.