Chapter 3
Welcome back to reality
Chapter 4
"Abstraction?"
________________
It has been a year since pomni entered the circus, she had missed her parents, her body, her face, being able to curse and in short her old life but she was somehow happy?
She loved spending time with her friends especially when there isn't an adventure and they are just chilling, talking, doing the things they like to do without Caine's obnoxious voice, he doesn't exactly speak with them as much, not ever since the 'escape the circus adventure' as jax described it, everytime they saw him afterwards they would start asking questions about how much he lied to them, at first he would try to make excuses but nobody believed him and now he just comes and announces the name of today's adventure and then push all them through a portal without letting them speak and most of the time there's a npc which explains to them today's adventure and what they're supposed to do
even zooble goes on adventures now,not by her choice tho, Caine always forces her to go, most of the time she would just chill somewhere while they finish the adventure and if the adventure seems uninteresting enough, pomni would stay with her to hang out
But today's adventure was different as the gang were standing in hallway in front of the meeting room of the castle when of the mannequin opened the door and rushed to push them inside"what are you waiting for! The princess is waiting!"the mannequin closed the door and princess Loo is not wearing her usual dress instead she's wearing a dark pink suit with a matching pencil skirt, wearing white heels and holding a white pointer with a white board behind her
Jax grumbled: "ughh,great! We are going on war and The captain is military barbie!"
Ragatha nudged his shoulder "be nicer jax,we don't even know what the adventure is about yet"
He rolled his eyes "whatever"
Princess Loo: "I am sorry this meeting was abrupt and might have disrupted your plans but this is serious!the princess of the neighbouring kingdom has been kidnapped by the dragon!"
Zooble: "if it's the neighbouring kingdom, then why are we saving her?"
Princess Loo: "good question, zooble, the other kingdom has already sent lots of knights to save her but they all failed and our kingdom is known for having the strongest military and having you guys, the five bravest knights"
Ragatha holds her dress and bows to the princess "thank you princess for compleme- wait! Five! No we're six" she looks around but is surprised to notice that pomni is not with them "has anyone seen pomni?"
Everyone looks around and she's no where to be found
Jax: "that's why I haven't heard anyone laughing at my jokes"
Ragatha: "have you seen a knight called pomni, princess Loo?"
Princess Loo: "no I haven't, there isn't a knight called pomni!"
Jax thought to himself "ok, I suppose I will tame the dragon and use it to burn down the kingdom and kill those losers and that stupid princess and maybe I could look for pomni afterwards"
Princess: "this is the princess's picture in case you don't know her"
The princess puts on the white board a picture of..... POMNI!
Kinger: "oh! I didn't know pomni was a princess!"
Princess Loo: "wait! is this the pomni you were talking about!"
Ragatha: "yes, Loo, she's our friend!"
Princess Loo tilted her head in confusion "your friend? How did you become friends with the princess from the neighbouring kingdom?"
Gangle: "umm,she's a very kind princess who spends her free time interacting with knights and we had a lot in common, so she became our friend"
Princess Loo smiles: "I see,well, I hope that motivates you to work even harder to save her!"
Ragatha: "we will!"
Jax: " did Caine really just make the adventure just 'rescue the princess', last time we were here the idea was far more creative, do we at least get a truck like last time?"
Princess Loo: "no, not this time"
Jax: "see! this is gonna be boring" he made exaggerated gestures with his hands and his ears went down
Princess Loo: "but you will be getting the 'portal controller 5000' "
Jax's ears straightened up, intrigued with he just heard
Zooble: "the what now?"
Princess Loo: "it will teleporte you to the forbidden forest in no time! But before you could save the princess there are a few tasks you have to complete first!"
Jax thought to himself: "ok, I will be taking that as the adventure's 'souvenir' "
Princess Loo: "I trust you brave knights, not to let it fall in the wrong hands and to bring it back" she says as she precedes to give it jax
Jax grinning the biggest grin he has ever grinned in his life: "don't worry, princess I will make sure that everything goes according to plan, you won't regret this but princess, I have a question, are there any more dragons, we should be aware of?"
Ragatha tries to intervene but jax quickly throws a centipede on her face, making her scream and fall on zooble,making them both fall
Princess Loo: "well, yes but don't worry as long as you don't go anywhere near the dragon's lagoon over here" she points at a map on the location " you should be fine, as all the dragons had fallen into a deep sleep where they will never wake up unless someone does that and the princess has accidentally awaken one and it ended up kidnapping her!"
Zooble gets up after she and ragatha were able to get rid of the centipede and she looks over at jax with a suspicious look "why do you wanna know that?"
Jax: "I am just looking after us zoobie!"
And then he thought to himself "afterall, I am sure you won't want me and pomni fighting over who should control the dragon",his grin just kept getting bigger and bigger as he thought about the homicide, he's going to commit
Zooble: "yeah, I am not gonna be a part of this, goodby-"
the group was abruptly sucked into the portal as jax clicked on the 'first level' botton which made them all scream not realising that it was gonna suck them in like a vacuum cleaner and the first level was the burning forest in which their first task was to put out the fire the dragon started to reach the tower where the princess was kept, the gang rushed towards the river to collect water and zooble understandably not want to burn after one her plastic pieces caught on fire but she was able to throw it away in time, also started getting water,while jax started using a torch to burn more of the forest down and it became zooble's unofficial official job to stop him
All while pomni was oblivious to what was happening to them as she was teleported to the tower wearing a red puffy princess dress, she tried to open the door but it was locked, she checked the window but it was a long fall not to mention the sleeping dragon that looked like gummygoo near the tower and judging by gummygoo's role in his first appearance he probably wasn't a friendly dragon, she hated how hard it was to move around with this dress, behind her was a book in which by just touching it opened on its own and a voice of a female narrator started talking and it sounded like the moon "once upon a time there was a young princess called pomni " the book show illustrations of her in the same princess dress she was wearing right now, it was almost like the illustrations in a fairy tales books and the pages where even 3D and there was a faint glowing light around it and it looked magical
Pomni looked down at her dress for a second before looking up again "I think I already figured that out"
The page turned to the next one and the narrator spoke again "she lived a happy life with her parents whom adored her and loved her unconditionally", the page showed an illustrations of her and her parents or at least what they would have looked like if they were in the circus, all happy spending time together and second page had them eating sushi of all things
Pomni couldn't help but smile faintly as she remembered herself and her real parents going to the beach every summer, her mom would always cook sushi every day of their holiday without missing and her father would play volleyball with her and everytime despite how hard she tries not to she ends up losing track of her parents and getting lost, it's the 'summer holiday canon event' as her cousins describe it as they went with them a few times when her relatives would visit America to see them, it's weird Caine made them eat sushi of all things but knowing he lied about being able to alter their minds, it wasn't out of the question that he also lied about having access to their memories
The narrator continued speaking as the pages turned again: "but the princess was bored of her life and she ended up falling in a never stopping loop, she would do her duties as a princess, eat and sleep every day without any changes or anything exciting happening" the pages were turning as she spoke showing illustrations of her being bored, doing her duties, eating and sleeping in the end
The narrator continued: "but one day she heard of the legend of the forbidden forest and her curiosity peaked and she decided to sneak out of the castle and explore the forbidden forest herself" the illustrations showed her out of the usual big puffy dress and now wearing a paige buttoned shirt with brown trousers wearing a black hood on top, the usual bright, colourful and sunny atmosphere was now replaced with dark,gloomy one with gray clouds in the sky as if the page was trying to say this was the worst choice she had ever made,pomni couldn't help but want that she was wearing the clothes in the illustrated page as it looked much more comfortable compared to this dress taking most of the space in this already small room on the top of the tower
the narrator: "she loved the forest and everything about it and she didn't understand why it was forbidden to go there" the atmosphere of the illustrations was a little bit lighter but still gloomy overall as of say that she was wrong about her assumption, despite her playing with animals and having fun
The narrator: "And one day her parents found out and a big fight between them ensued about the princess's safety and the princess stated she was old enough to look after herself, storming out and running to the forest before anyone could catch her and as she ran she found out why the forest was forbidden to step a foot in, it was because the evil dragon lived there and she had by accident awaken it up and as a punishment the evil dragon trapped her in his tower, guarding it to make sure she never escapes" the pages turned showing her and her parents fighting and her going to the forest, coming across the dragon and the last illustration showed her behind prison bars in the tower with a simplified version of her door icon behind it
Pomni as the pages turned and the narrator spoke at first she frowned and then her frown turned into anger as she rolled her eyes "of course you have access to our memories! come on Caine! at least try to change what happened between me and my parents before I got here!"
And then she thought to herself for a minute, is this the first time he does something like this? has any of the previous adventures been a retelling of something that happened in Their lives before here? Did they notice that and just brushed it off? Or did they not notice? But her trail of thoughts was cut off by the narrator
The narrator: "the candy canyon kingdom has sent its bravest and kindest knights to rescue her after all of her kingdom's knights has failed to do so" the illustrations showed her friends posing in a heroic way and she couldn't help but laugh when she saw jax depicted causing mischief as he grinned while holding a match next to TNT and everyone was looking at him eyes widened and it felt like the narrator saw this illustration as she continued "maybe not all of them are kind...." and then the obnoxious of their ringmaster came in suddenly, a huge contrast with the moon's soft and calming voice and it felt like this was an unedited narration of the book "no,no,no moon! I know jax looks weird but ignore it and read your lines"
Moon: "but I have already read them?" The moon started blushing a little before continuing "but I am sorry for the inconvenience, take this as a sorry gift"
Caine: "well,well, moon don't worry about it, as the kind and loving ringmaster I am, I don't want a-" he was silenced by the moon's soft kiss on the check making him crash as he blushed before coming back to reality and talking fast while slowly trying to leave"UMM, UM, ANYWAY IF YOU WANNA KNOW THE ENDING OF T-THE STORY, GO O-ORDER IT ON OUR WEBSITE, YEAH, BYEEEE" he left the moon who couldn't help but smile
Sun: "you really need to find someone else like seriously what do you see in that man?"
Moon: "he makes me laugh"
The book closed and pomni couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurdity of the situation of those wacky AIs
But now she knew her role was to sit around and wait for the others to show up and recuse her, easy enough, she could admire the sky until they come here
____________
Kinger was able to tame the gummy elephant and he used its trunk to put out the fire as fast as possible, making everyone wet and jax started shaking himself like a a cat and now he looks like a fluffy ball and now you can only see his eyes
Zooble: "I didn't know you could do that" you can almost imagine the smirk forming on her face
Jax: "SHUT UP!"
They continue their journey finishing level after level as pomni waited and they were finally against the gummy dragon
Pomni watched from above as she at first envied her friends for frightening the dragon, especially the fact jax was trying to get it on his side but the moment she saw jax run away from the dragon, she became glad she wasn't down there,jax was a coward ,yes but he never takes those types of adventures seriously, he just fights until he wins but the fact he's running from the dragon means he had used all his tricks and nothing is working except for one, running!
She decided to look at the sky as it wasn't fun to watch her friends suffer and she would occasionally glance down for a second before continuing but this time she noticed that jax was outright missing! That's never a good sign but hey! it looks like they've got a plan as ragatha is flagged down the dragon and running through the forest as the dragon chases her
And suddenly the door behind her opened to see jax of all people standing there!
Pomni: "jax!"
Jax: "hey pom pom"
Pomni: "shouldn't you be with the others?"
Jax: "I got bored but anyway the adventure ends the moment you get out of this tower"
Pomni: "alright then let's g-"
She was caught of guard when jax carried her "jax-" she didn't even get to finish her sentence when jax threw her out of the window "JAX YOU AS[#$%!&]" her voice echoed as she fell down the tall tower and she ended up in a mud puddle and jax took out a hook attached to a rope and he started getting down using it
Jax: "oopsie daisy, I thought just like in movies, your dress would work as a parachute but looks like it was just for show"
Pomni slowly gets up, her face was covered in mud
Jax: "anyway let's go look for the portal-" he was caught of by mud that was thrown in his face
________________
Zooble: "I can't believe kinger's plan worked!"
Kinger knight helmet was covering his eyes this whole time "well,he used tail to whack people away just by touching, it wasn't hard to figure it out we should use it against him"
Zooble: "we really should cover your eyes more often"
Kinger took the helmet off his eyes "cover my what?"
Zooble: "... it's nothing kinger"
Kinger: "okay" despite him not having a mouth, you can tell he was smiling cluelessly
Ragatha: "alright, let's go get pomni"
Zooble: "yeah and get this adventure over with!"
Gangle: "pomni's dress looked pretty in the pictures! I can't wait to see it in person"
Zooble: "yeah, to be honest, it feels like that was the only thing Caine actually spent time on, you guys told me,this was all reused material from an old adventure with the most known story trope ever!"
They all walked back to the tower where pomni was kept and they noticed that jax was missing but as long as he wasn't bothering them ,it was ok but zooble had a big feeling about this
As they approached the end of the forest, near the tower which they were finally able to see glances of it again as the forest had big trees that cover its roof, so they weren't able to see most of the time but seeing the tower again was a good sign they were walking in the right direction, something they didn't expect to see was the portal back 'home' open and they knew this wasn't another portal back to the kingdom or a bonus level as both looked visually different and this one didn't suck them in like the previous times
Ragatha: "this is..... weird"
Gangle: "maybe jax, already rescued her!"
Zooble: "I highly doubt that"
Ragatha: "let's go check on her just in ca-" she was stopped by the mud thrown in her face, making her fall on to the ground
Pomni's head comes out of the bushes" GOT YOU, YOU STUPID RABB-" she was mortified when she saw ragatha "OMG, ragatha I am sorry, I thought you were jax" she reached out her hand to help ragatha get up
Ragatha: "it's ok pomni-" she caught of guard when she finally saw pomni as she had finally gotten out of the bush
Gangle gasped,zooble eyes widened
Kinger: "oh, pomni! I like what you did to yourself!"
Pomni smiles: "thanks kinger"
Gangle whispered: "not the pretty dress!"
Pomni was covered in mud from head to toe, her dress or was left of it was stained in the places where the mud wasn't covering any more and her princess dress was cut very unevenly, now instead of it reaching the floor, it's now reaching only to about to her knees
Ragatha's concern turned in anger "DID JAX DO THIS!??"
Pomni: "not exactly! I cut the dress myself because it was getting annoying to move around with, to be honest I didn't even think it would work!and we are just having a mud fight!"
Zooble: "why are teeth sharp?" She Pointed at her mouth
Pomni: "oh!umm, I can just make them sharp on command like an 'on & off' switch" she made her teeth look normal again to prove her point
When suddenly mud was thrown,hitting the back of her head, turning around she saw jax standing from afar genuinely smiling "GOT YOU" before disappearing behind the trees, although he wasn't standing for long, the gang saw what pomni did to him as he was covered in more mud than pomni
Pomni: "NOT SO FAST" she ran towards him, turning her teeth sharp again, holding mud in her hand
Gangle: "do we just... leave?"
Zooble: "I mean, they're not harming anyone, I don't see why not and this is definitely better than jax was planning, I am convinced that he was planning to terrorize the kingdom with the dragon or something like that"
They all walk towards the portal back to the circus as ragatha glances one last time at pomni and jax ,concerned but once she sees that pomni is genuinely laughing,her doubt was replaced by a smile, glad to see her friend happy before walking into the portal herself
________________
On the other side of the portal,the ringmaster was waiting for them
Caine: "hello,my amazingly kind and brave knights and hello to the princes-" his eyes were closed and he opened them see at the cast,he was taken aback and started counting them "WAIT! You're only 4,where's pomni and jax!"
He snaps his fingers teleporting pomni and jax to appear out of nowhere floating in the air with a decent distance between them and the ground and Caine gasps when he sees them and stopped holding them in the air,making them fall "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU AND TO THE DRESS!!!??"
Pomni: "why's everyone concerned about the dress?!"
Jax stood nonchalantly one hand on his hip, annoyed that Caine brought them here "we were having a mud fight"
Caine: "AND THE DRESS??!!??"
Jax: "pomni stole my pocket knife and cut it herself"
Caine : "I am so SO disappointed in you guys" he snaps his fingers, resting them back to their normal outfit, removing the mud in the process as if nothing had happened "man! The hours I spent working on that dress, all the polygons spent on it"
Bubble: "didn't you upload that from a libr-" Caine popped him before he could finish that sentence
Caine: "ANYWAY! here's a digital feast for your bravery today, goodbye"
The ringmaster disappears just as fast as he appeared
________________
The gang enjoyed their food,the lights went out as it was time to sleep and the gang headed to their rooms as jax approached pomni
Jax: "hey pom pom!"
Pomni turns around as she was talking to ragatha beforehand "hmm?"
Jax: "look, just because our fight was abruptly ended doesn't mean it's over,I think we could find mud near the digital lake"
Pomni giggles before smirking "alright then,challenge accepted JJ"
kinger: "hey ragatha! Would you like to see my firefly collection? You seem to like them, pomni and jax you can join if you want!"
Jax: "I think I have to pass this time old man since I wanna sleep but I am down to see your centipede collection later!"
Ragatha's skin shivers just by the mention of centipedes, she glares at him "jax"
Kinger: "of course jax!just tell me when you're free,ragatha, pomni you still haven't answered my question?"
Pomni: "I am sorry, kinger but I will pass too,I was just about to say goodnight to ragatha since I am tired but I promise that I will come with you next time!"
Ragatha: "well,since I am not sleepy and pomni is going to her room, I don't see why not!"
Kinger: "alright then let's go ragatha"
Pomni and ragatha wave at each other as they both headed their ways
Jax: "so, what were you and the ragdoll talking about, kiddo?"
Pomni and jax were walking towards their rooms and pomni was about to answer his question until he heard him call her 'kiddo'
Jax: "what? Did the cat eat your tongue?" He pauses for a minute before realizing why she was upset, rolling his eyes "come on pomni, you need to admit it you do look like a kid"
She still didn't answer him, when an idea sparked in her head, making her speak "alright then I am a kid,baby"
He was caught of guard and his eyes widened when he heard her say 'baby' "I am sorry what did you just call me?!"
She smirked "if I am a kid then you're a baby since you're younger"
He rolled his eyes so hard and she saw it making her giggle "pomni, I am not a baby" he grumbled
Pomni: "well, you're definitely not a fetus since I am talking to you, then that means you're an infant"
He was about to talk when an idea sparked in his head and he needed her to hit him "alright then clown"
Pomni: "I am not a clown, I am a jester!"
Jax: "eh, there's no difference to me"
Pomni: "WHAT?! No there's a HUGE difference between a clown and jester, if they were the same they would have been called either clown or jester"
Jax: "yeah, yeah, whatever kid"
"What's wrong with him we were doing fine" she thought to herself
Jax he thought to himself "okay, this is not working, I need to step lower"
Jax: "you know gangle is annoying when she cries but it's also entertaining to hear somehow"
Pomni got mad and hit him in the stomach "stop being an as[#$%!&]"
Jax thought "bingo" as he grinned, he said "you still persisting on calling me a baby?"
Pomni: "definitely"
Jax: "alright then, you asked for this,SOMEONE HELP ME SHE'S HITTING A BABY,SHE COMMITTING CHILD ABUSE!!"
Her eyes widened as she tried to shush him as she laughed at how absurd this was "SHUT UP,SHUT UP,SHUT UPP!!!"
Jax: "SHE HIT A POOR, INNOCENT INFANT IN THE STOMACH"
zooble and gangle were watching every conspire from in front of zooble's room
Zooble: "you're not innocent jax!"
Jax: "yeah, but I am still a baby according to pom pom"
Pomni trying her best to stop laughing "SHUT UP!"
Ragatha and kinger came rushing towards them
Ragatha: "WHERE'S THE BABY??!!"
kinger's voice was sturdy and calm, trying to not lose his composure: "who hit the baby, I need to talk to them"
Jax started laughing so hard when he saw them "pomni did!"
Pomni: "shut up!"
Ragatha was confused at the whole situation while kinger's stern expression didn't change
Kinger: "pomni! I thought better of you!"
Zooble: "to clarify, jax is said 'baby' "
Ragatha relaxed as it turned out it was nothing
Kinger's expression changed in an instant,his kind demeanor is back: "oh, so no baby was hit but that doesn't mean you can hit jax, pomni, pls use your words next time!"
Pomni: "I will keep that in mind, kinger" she smiled
Jax: "anyway, this was fun, goodnight losers and pom pom"he said as he headed to his room
Pomni rolled her eyes as she walked towards her room, saying "goodnight everyone"before closing the door
What a wacky day it was! Although there is a lot of stuff pomni would like to change about the circus, one thing she would never trade for the the world was her friends and the connections she made over the last year
________________
It was a new day in the circus,just like everyday she was awake abruptly the moment the lights turned on as the sun took the moon's place in the sky, their eyes would automatically open on their own, not letting them sleep in
Pomni got up from her bed and headed towards the door,careful not to touch the cubes on the floor as to not repeat what happened last time she fell on one
She opened the door to see ragatha and jax like everyday, stepping out of their rooms "hi, guys!"
Nobody answered her,that was weird, everything was alright before she went to sleep but she decided to brushed those worries aside and approached jax "hey jax, how are you?"
No answer
Pomni: "well,look whose tongue got eaten by cat now?"
No answer, it was almost like he didn't hear her
Pomni: "I didn't think you were that upset about the 'baby' thing last night as far as I am concerned we were laughing before we went to bed"
No answer, he talked but not to her tho "morning crybaby!" He said as he approached as gangle who just came out of her room
Gangle got scared when she saw jax and he quickly stole her mask and broke it "don't try using the mask, you will always be a crybaby"
Gangle started crying as she felt weak and pomni was angered when she saw what jax did "JAX! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
he didn't answer her, zooble finally came out fo her room only to see what had conspired there "hugh! COME ON JAX, YOU REALLY COULDN'T LEAVE HER ALONE FOR ONE DAY"
Jax: "yeah,yeah, whatever, goodbye losers"
Zooble approached gangle: "hey, look don't listen to whatever he said ,he's an idiot"
Zooble and gangle walked by each other and pomni followed
Ragatha had went to see kinger before anything had conspired And she was surprised when she saw gangle without her comedy mask "oh my God, jax had already broken your mask, I am so sorry gangle"
Gangle: "it's ok I suppose, I have gotten used to this"
Pomni: "I really don't know what's wrong with jax today, first he ignores me, now he breaks gangle's mask and says mean and hurtful words to her, he was acting better as of laterally, I don't know what happened!"
Nobody acknowledge her speaking and instead ragatha turned around towards jax "JAX! COME HERE!"
He rolled his eyes and came to them "look, leave me alone, I wanna enjoy some time before that annoying pomni comes and I have to pretend I am her 'bestie' or something"
Pomni's eyes widened: "JAX! I AM LATERALLY HERE! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU"
Ragatha: "look,jax I understand she's annoying but just because she's not here, doesn't mean you can just hurt gangle"
Pomni: "YEAH-, I am sorry did you just call me annoying, I-... what did I do?"
Jax: "look, ragatha, I am sick of pretending to her 'friend', so she doesn't abstract, I don't care about anyone in this circus, so why do I have to be stuck with the 'bestie' role"
Ragatha: "because she likes you the most and says you're the closest person to her"
Zooble: "and jax I think we have to remind of what happens when someone abstracts and the amount of destruction they cause to us and to *you*,she might be the most annoying human on earth which is true but she can still cause a lot of destruction if she abstracts"
Jax: "yeah, I think you forgot that I just love destruction and I am also sick of pretending to care about her struggles and how she misses her parents and how she regrets that fight she had with them before coming here or how she felt unlikable because she didn't have any friends in real life and everytime she starts, I just wanna tell her that maybe she should take a hint that she's actually annoying"
Pomni was mortified at what she heard "jax, those were personal struggles, nobody was ever supposed to hear that!I trusted you to keep that information secret!"
Gangle: "we get it jax, she's annoying but we need to keep up the act,nobody wants to deal with an abstraction"
Pomni: "not even you gangle" she was struggling to hold back her tears, this was all fake right? A cruel joke played on her, this was a prank! Right?
Jax: "HUGH, GOD, I just want her abstract already!"
that was the nail that sealed the coffin for as she started crying, pulling down her jester hat "this is fake!this is just a prank! A cruel sick joke played on me! You guys are lying! I am not annoying! I-I am sorry, I HATE YOU, I-" she felt all sorts of emotions came to her in a second
She was standing behind them and only that moment thay turned around and it felt like they had finally seen her and they look mortified but it wasn't because they heard her it was because they were scared of something and she finally noticed the big jagged edges shadow falling on them and she realized it was an abstraction's shadow, she quickly turned around expecting to see the abstraction but there was nothing until she looked down and realized it was her own shadow! why did it look like that?
Jax: "well, I suppose my wish came true, goodluck fellas" he ran leaving a cloud shaped like him behind, in which the cloud itself ran too after seeing the 'abstraction'
The ringmaster appeared out of nowhere "well, good morning- oh, no pomni abstracted!" He snapped his fingers making her float in the air, opening the cellar
Pomni's eyes widened "NO,NO I DIDN'T ABSTRACT CAINE"
It was almost like nobody was able to hear her pleads as Caine stopped making her float and she fell down as she screamed a blood-curdling scream falling down in what seemed like an endless hole until she reached the bottom of the cellar hitting her back hard but she mortified when she saw the other abstractions in the cellar "STAY AWAY FROM ME",she saw an alarm clock of all things there but that wasn't important right now and she threw at one of the abstraction that had rabbit ears, hitting it the face of the creature that used to human, she started running, looking for any way out of place of this hell as the abstractions ran after her, she couldn't believe what was happening, her friends hated her and she's now down in the cellar,this is a nightmare!
She saw a red door with the word 'exit' on it and as she approached it,she was suddenly held by one of the abstractions as the others stood around her, one had a buttoned eye,the other had two big tears on its face, the last one had two different shaped antennas, one was 'y' shape and the other was a zigzag, meaning that the abstraction with the rabbit ears is one who is holding her, they made gibberish sounds, it was like they were talking to her
She tried to get herself out of the creature's hold but to no avail, she kept just struggling, trying to kick the abstraction, she started to bite its arm but it didn't let go, she had given up escaping and just started pleading to the abstractions "pls, I just wanna leave, I-I didn't abstract, I don't d-deserve to be in the c-cellar" her breathing was hysterical, she was having a panic attack, the gibberish sounds stopped and it turned into soft sounds like they were comforting her? The abstraction with rabbit ears holding her started lowering her down on the floor, toughen its grip,it wasn't stopping her from reach the door it was hugging her? that helped her steady her breathing But slowly the sounds turned into legible words, it was her friends! but she just saw up they weren't abstracted, what are they doing in the cellar looking like that?
And she realized her eyes were closed this whole time, she slowly opened them to see Dorothy, Evelyn and Taylor sitting around her, comforting her, this was all really a nightmare after all
Dorothy: "see,it's ok, everything is going to be alright, you didn't abstract" she smiled softly
Evelyn: "remember, Chris, we are in the real world again"
She started crying quietly, glad that this was a nightmare
Zooble: "hey, Don't cry, everything is alright"
Christine's eyes widened: "did I actually hit or bite someone?"
Felix: "fuck you" he whispered in her ear, making her realise that he was the one holding her this whole time, she turned around to see his face and sure enough, she gave him a black when she throw her alarm clock at him and then she looked at his hand to see the bite mark on it
Christine: "I am sorry" she whispered back embarrassed
Felix: "you own me big"
She couldn't but giggle at his response a little between tears
________________
Felix was humming to himself as he made the caramel sauce, Evelyn was making the popcorn after felix forced her to,Taylor went to the local 24/7 store to buy snacks and something to drink,ragatha went to get blankets and pillows with Christine as the doctor advised Christine to not hold heavy stuff as pressure on her arm could cause her wound to open again and start bleeding,they were getting it for their unplanned movie night as no one was gonna sleep after what happened
Christine and ragatha came back with the blankets and pillows and started arranging them putting them on the couch and beanbags where they were gonna sit
Christine: "soooooo, aside from me hitting and biting felix, did I do something else?"
Felix: "I mean, you woke us all up with your blood-curdling scream and I didn't see it but I am pretty sure you fall on zoobie while she was asleep"
Dorothy: "no,no,Taylor got up in time before that could happened"
Christine was mortified to hear that "and what happened next?"
Felix: "uhh, nothing, you ran towards the front door and I quickly caught you before you could do anything stupid,were you sleepwalking or something?"
Christine: "no...., I just wanted to know, how long I was actually awake for without realising"
Felix: "what was your nightmare about anyway?"
Dorothy: "felix, I am sure she doesn't wanna talk about that now"
Christine thought for a second before replying: "I actually don't mind"
Evelyn: "are you sure about that Christine?"
Christine: "yeah, it really wasn't bad at all at first, it started out with a memory actually! when we had the 'recuse the princess adventure' where I was the princess in the tower"
Felix: "oh! The one where we had a mud fight! Now, I come to think of it, we never actually had that rematch!"
Christine: "yeah that one and well, the events played out exactly the same the whole day in the dream.....well when it was still a dream at least....."
Door bell rang and Evelyn went to open the door and Taylor had came back with the snacks
Taylor: "hey guys"
Evelyn: "hey Taylor, Christine was just telling us about her nightmare!"
Taylor: "oh,really! What did I miss?" She said as she sat aside the snacks
Dorothy: "oh,nothing, she said that it started out as the memory of the 'rescue the princess' adventure!"
Taylor: "oh, yeah I remember that one.... how did that turn into you having a nightmare about going down the cellar tho?"
Christine: "well,the nightmare really began the next day in the morning where you couldn't see me and..... then you saw me as an abstraction but I didn't abstract tho and Caine sent me down the cellar and then I woke up without realising I woke up and I thought you guys were abstractions!"
Dorothy: "that's horrible pomni! I am so sorry you went through that,sorry! I meant Christine!"
Christine: "it's ok,I am just glad it's over now"
Felix: "i am sorry- but your reaction to an abstraction holding you is to bite it!"
Christine rolled her eyes: "I wasn't thinking clearly felix!"
Felix: "sure,sure, you never apologised for that tho!"
Christine: "no, I did!"
Felix: "then it's not enough!" He declared
Christine rolled her eyes before bowing: "my deepest apologies to you,your highness, happy now?"
He grinned: "very much!"
After that Christine her smile started to fade and she got really quiet, she seemed to be lost in thought
Dorothy tabbed her shoulder lightly: "is everything ok?"
She quickly snapped out of it, shaking her head: "I just.... miss kinger ........you know guys,I broke my promise to him that I would come to see his insect collection later..."
The room fell silent for a moment before dorothy spoke: "Christine, nobody could have ever predicted what was going to happen a couple of days later"
Christine: "I know I just...... miss him a lot"
Evelyn: "we all do"
Christine: "guys, I.. I wanna tell you about something, there was a time where kinger and I were alone when the circus was breaking apart and he asked me that once we get out of the circus that we destroy the headset and the computer connected to it incase his plan falled to shut down the circus completely and before I could answer we were separated and I was too distraught when I got out of the circus to tell you anything at that moment"
Everyone got quite before Taylor talked "if...... this was his last wish then I am happy to fulfill it"
Dorothy and Evelyn nodded along and felix was completely quiet but Christine knew that he probably agreed with them,he was never the type to Express his emotions
Dorothy: "since..... the topic of kinger came up,I was thinking we could throw a little memorial to honour him,maybe have a private funeral kinda like the funerals we had for our abstracted friends
Everyone nodded in approval except for felix, he never showed up for a funeral in the circus, so this wasn't surprising
Dorothy: "alright then since we don't have anything tomorrow, let's do it tomorrow, shall we?"
Everyone nodded again except for felix
Felix: "you know if the old man was actually here,he would have wanted us to be happy and not be all sad and gloomy, popcorn is almost done!"
________________
And finally everything is ready and everyone settled down in their places and they just have to choose a movie or a show to watch
Christine: "what do you wanna watch?"
Felix: "how about breaking bad?"
Taylor: "is that the only show,you have ever watched?"
Felix: "who said I watched it?" He said as he grinned
Taylor was dumbfounded to say the least
Dorothy: "is that a good movie,Chris?"
Christine: "it's actually a show that lasted 5 seasons and from what I hear it's a good show! I haven't watched it to be honest"
Taylor: "you haven't! why didn't you watch it?"
Christine: "no reason in particular, I just never got around to doing that"
Taylor: "alright then, since it was felix's suggestion, let's not watch it and let's do a vote on it "
Felix: "hey!"
Dorothy: "agreed"
Evelyn: "agreed"
Christine: "i don't agree because there's no reason why we shouldn't"
Felix: "same as pom pom"
Taylor: "well majority say no,so we're not watching it"
Felix: "what are we gonna watch then? I didn't spend all that time making popcorn for nothing!"
Taylor: "technically speaking, Evelyn is the *one* who made the popcorn"
Felix: "and I made the sauce! You losers would have 100% burnt it!"
But Taylor ignored him started speaking to Evelyn: "what do you suggest, eve?"
Felix didn't like being ignored and he knew that he needed to get revenge but not now but he will make sure to get his sweet sweet revenge at the right time but for now he could make fun of them: "come on! we already know it's anime"
Taylor: "so,what's wrong with that?"
Felix: "it's gonna be boring and cringe!"
Taylor rolls her eyes: "look,eve, if you wanna watch anime that's ok,maybe we can watch your favourite anime 'Azumanga Daioh?', you always told me about it and I would love to watch it with you"
Evelyn: "well, I would love to watch it but I think we should stick to watching a movie and I do have a suggestion, it's 'Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure' it's an animated movie that I always loved it growing up!"
Dorothy: "wait! You actually know that movie, I loved too"
Taylor: "man,I don't remember the last time I watched it,I would love to see it again"
Christine: "I was obsessed with movie as a kid"
Evelyn: "really! Guys I am really happy to see you guys actually know it, it's really an underrated movie"
Taylor: "I guess,we're watching it then"
Felix: "hey! You guys didn't even hear my opinion!"
Christine: "trust me felix, you're gonna love it, just give it a shot"
Felix: "who said I didn't see it before and my siblings would force me to watch it all the time! It's an ok movie in my opinion"
________________
Flashback:-
16 year old felix holding the laundry basket, walking in the hallway, noticing the twin boys watching the movie "hey! Where didn't you call me to watch it with you?!"he put down the basket and sat down to watch
Tom: "we didn't think would want to watch it"
Tim: "yeah,didn't you tell your friends at school that 'cartoons are for kids' "
Felix: "those are not my friends..."
Tom: "then,who are they?"
Ellen: "those are his bullies and he said that so they would leave alone today, didn't work tho!"she picked the basket to hang the clothes to dry in the sun
Felix: "shut up Ellen!"
Tim: "why do they bully you?"
Felix: "uhhhhh,well-"
Tessa: "because he's a loser"
Felix: "I AM NOT"
Tessa: "that's what they say, not me!"
________________
Felix: "yep, they always forced me" he looked down at the floor as of regretting even remembering that
Christine: "can you pls watch it with us this time"
Man he really hated how convincing she sounded, even outside the circus it felt like she was her pupils got bigger like she was unintentionally giving him puppy eyes but he would never admit that tho "yeah,sure why not" he said that in the most nonchalant way he could, looking away from her
________________
They ended watching the movie and then settling on watching timeless movies in which all of them had watched at least once before the circus,looking for nostalgia, it was nice seeing those movies again after whatever ai generated knockoff Caine made in the circus
dorothy, Evelyn and Taylor had all slept where they sat, felix went to the balcony and Christine was washing the dishes before deciding to join him
Christine: "hey-oh!" She caught of guard when she saw the cigarette in his hands "where did you get that from?"
Felix: "eh,don't worry I didn't use your money to buy it, I found it in the bottom of my bag!"
Christine: "how does a 6 year old cigarette taste like?"
Felix: "it's something I suppose"
Christine: "you never told me you smoked"
Felix: "it's because I mostly didn't,once in a while I would just buy one to relax"
Christine made quotation marks with her hands : "how often is 'once in a while'
Felix: "three to four months"
Christine: "that's actually not as bad as I thought!"
Felix: "exactly! Besides you also never told me you're asian"
Christine: "because that wasn't relevant to anything really! it wouldn't have changed anything, unless you're racist"
Felix: "What!? no I am not racist!"
Christine: "I know I was just joking! But I wanted to know where are you from? you never mentioned you were Latino"
Felix: "I am half American, half Latino and you have to guess where exactly"
Christine: "umm, I don't know, maybe give me a hint"
Felix: "it's a country near America"
Christine: "Mexico?"
Felix: "yep, but to be honest my hint was too obvious, I just don't know a lot about Mexico"
Christine: "have you ever been there?"
Felix: "I think once or twice when I was a child, travelling later became harder as I had a lot of siblings....like a rabbit"
Christine: "how many siblings did you have?"
Felix: "I think you got to know enough fun facts about me for today"
Christine: "come on, felix! I am not even asking for names,only a number!"
Felix: "nope, no more question!"
Christine: "come oooonnnnn!"
She gave him the puppy eyes again but he turned his head away before she could convince him "still no"
He wishes he didn't glace at her because she was frowning now, she looked very cute but he had to stay strong and tried to change the subject: "where are you from anyway? I think it's only fair after the lore drop I just gave you!"
Chris: "hmmm,guess!"
Felix: "alright but you have to give me a hint since I gave you one, like... say a sentence in your country's language if you can"
Christine: "クリスティンです、あなたは？"
Felix was caught of guard when he heard her "wait! Don't tell me you're Japanese, my God! ribbons is gonna lose it when she finds out"
She giggled: "I suppose you're right but I still wanna know how many siblings you ha-"
He cut her off before she could finish that sentence: "why did you hide your car?"
She looked puzzled for a moment: "huh?"
Felix: "when we got out, you seemed to know where exactly it was parked, why did you hide it?"
Christine: "oh! Well, once i went urban exploring and parked my car in front of that building and I was gone for 15 minutes max! And my car may or may have not been towed....so from then I started hiding"
Felix: "come on Chris! That's like a beginner's mistake" as if he had actually went urban exploring before
Christine: "exactly, I was a beginner then but now I am an expert!"
Felix: "sure"looks like he made her forget about her question,that or she had gotten the hint that he didn't wanna talk about his life,regardless of which was right, he was glad
Christine thought to herself for a moment before talking: "hey! I know where to find a place with a lot of mud, do you wanna rematch?"
Felix was pleasantly surprised as he didn't except her to want a rematch in real life: "why are you even asking?! of course!"
Christine: "but only if you agree to one condition"
Felix: "I need to know the condition first?"
Christine: "the loser has to accept a dare"
Felix: "Chris! If you wanted me to dare you,just tell me"
Christine: "what makes you so sure you will win?"
Felix: "I have got a natural talent to win anything" he with so much confidence that would jinx the whole world
________________
An hour later both are covered in mud from head to toe and finally felix had accepted defeat and Christine has been declared the winner, they both layed on the ground watching the sky above as they caught their breath back
Christine: "hey,Felix!"
Felix: "yeah?"
Christine: "are you going to kinger's funeral tomorrow?"
He went completely silent and didn't answer her and his eyes slightly widened
Chris: "felix?"
Felix now slightly irritated: "what?"
Christine: "are you going or not?"
Felix: "oh, I see where this is going, you're gonna dare me to go,aren't you?"
Chris: "what! No felix The dare idea was only to spice things up,I would never dare you to do something you don't wanna do!"
Felix: "as far as I am concerned, dares are made to make people do stuff they don't wanna do"
Chris: "you know what I mean tho!"
He just rolled his eyes and looked in the other direction
Christine sighs: "look, felix I want you to come and be there with me but I understand why you won't wanna come and as for the dare I am still thinking about what should I dare you for now"
He stayed silent for a while deep in thought before groaning: "ugh, fine, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do so, BUT I am allowed to leave at moment I want and I am NOT giving a speech!"
She held his hand "thank you felix! I really appreciate this"
Felix too tighten his grip, squeezing her hand a little bit,looking away as the tiniest bit of blush can be seen on his face "you're welcome pom"
After a few minutes of comfortable silence as they star gazed and relaxed,still holding hands,they decided to head back as they both still need to shower and get some sleep before the funeral ,it's gonna be a long day tomorrow isn't it?
____________
Notes:-
At last chapter 4 is finally out, I didn't have motivation to edit it, that's why it took so long and I am waiting for the invitation from ao3 to make my account and after I make my account, I will continue posting on tumblr as well for those who wanna read it here and this is my new favourite chapter so far and "クリスティンです、あなたは?" Should translate to "my name's Christine, what's your name" if you happen to know Japanese and something is wrong in this sentence pls inform me in the comments and gangle's favourite anime and them all loving raggedy Ann and Andy: a musical adventure reference to gooseworx's asks, so those are actual canon answers, see you guys after my exams 😊
Chapter 5 (will be linked in the future)
