★ LABYRINTH ★ JAX X GN! READER || TADC

⭑ dreams that turn sour ⭑

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

~y/n pov~

Almost immediately my eyes opened. My hands still resting on my chest and my body flat on its back. I sat up, the rays of light barely seeping in through the cheap, dusty window blinds catching my eyes. I looked down at myself, I felt like crying upon seeing that I was still in my digital body.

I looked around from my small bed more, the plain, sparsely decorated walls revealing no personality. The shaking ceiling fan slowly spun above me. A strange sense of familiarity washed over me. Is this...my old apartment?

I looked forward and my heart halted its beating. My desk, my desk with an old hand-me down computer and printer sitting atop it. This was it. This was  the place. The place I spent my final moments in before I was launched into digital hell against my will. I threw the covers off of me and pressed my feet against the cold ground. I took slow steps over to my computer...

the headset.

right there, seemingly untouched. It all seemed like just a burning memory. I had needed a pair of headphones after my neighbors complained about the noise coming from my computer. I reluctantly complied and thrifted a janky headset from a store I couldn't recall. I had come home and put the headset on...and that was it. 

I slowly lifted my fingers and ran them across it's smooth, cold surface. Memories of my first arrival at the circus flooded back. The harsh lights, the ear-splitting music, and the eye-gouging colors. Without thinking, I gripped the curve of the headset in my first and threw it against the wall with all my might, yelling as I did so.

I screwed my eyes shut and clenched my fists to the sides of my head, yelling some more. Why did everything feel so painful, so loud, when it was dead quiet? I forced myself to take deep breaths and I opened my eyes. There, right behind the shattered pieces of the headset- was an exit door.

My mind tricking me into thinking this was now reality, I laughed,  relieved. I threw myself towards the door and flung it open. My stomach sank. I was met with a cement wall. "no. noooonononononononoo."  I whispered to myself. I shut the door and took a deep breath. I opened it again. cement. I slammed the door and flung it open again until splinters littered my fingers and my eyes were red and puffy with tears. I finally yelled and slammed the door as hard as I could. I was flung back against the wall as the door exploded from the impact. I shakily opened my eyes. The exit door was no more.

I slowly began crying again. I curled up into a ball on the cold, cold floor and buried my face in my arms. Letting the loneliness and misery of my former apartment consume me whole...

my eyes opened to the sounds of exhausted groans and sighs. I lifted my head immediately, breathing a sigh of relief as warmth returned to my body. Everyone began sitting up. At first, I thought thought that perhaps I was the only one who had a bad dream, but as my gaze traveled around to everyone else waking up- that theory was quickly cast away. As ragatha woke, rubbing her face and groaning, gangle shot upwards, sending her comedy mask flying. She then began to pitifully cry and bury her face in her ribbons. Kinger, already awake, was keeled over, shaking and eyes wide. Zooble sat up, still as a rock, a disturbing expression showing on their face. Pomni was also shaking, whispering unintelligible words to herself as her eyes flickered from side to side.

My mind reeled. Where's jax?... 

I was the first to stand as I looked around. I finally spotted jax, who I assumed rolled away in his sleep from the group. I ran up to him, but slowed to a halt as my eyes widened with worry. His body was tremoring and I could see reminants of tears leaking out of his closed eyes. His foot kicked out behind him as he whimpered. "No...no..." he whispered to himself as he shook.

I kneeled down, and I could feel the collective eyes of everyone else draw themselves to jax. I reached my hand out to him before he bolted upwards, his gloves securing themselves around his ears as he screwed his eyes shut. "MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!!!" He wailed as he continued to kick his feet out at nothing. 

"Jax! Jax it's ok! You're awake!" I lay my hand on his shoulder, all the belief that my dream was bad immediately disappearing upon seeing the aftermath of Jax's. 

He threw himself away from me, spotting himself away with his hands as he eyes me and the others wildly. "No! Stop! It's not real...ITS NOT REAL ITS NOT!!!" He scrambled off the ground and fled into the circus tent, his tears trailing behind him as his cries grew fainter and fainter. I sat there on my knees, frozen in shock. Everyone was taken aback. Jax, of all people...started crying? I'm front of everyone? such a self-absorbed and egotistic rabbit being torn down so much...

Just then, Caine reappeared in the air in a puff of smoke. "Hello, hello my accomplices! How have we...- oh dear..." he immediately turned concerned as he saw the last moments of jax fleeing off into the distance, stumbling over himself while yelling and crying. Everyone's eyes suddenly fixed on  him.

"Goodness...h-how did everyone fair?" He answered in his most cherry voice. Zooble stood up and pointed a censored middle-finger towards him. "$&#% YOU CAINE!" They shouted, their voice cracking with emotion. They hastily gathered up the pieces of gangle's broken comedy mask and grabbed her hand, disappearing into the circus tent as Caine's watched them wearily. 

"Everyone else?" He queried, his posture growing tense as he could feel the anger in the air. Ragatha looked away from him angrily and rested her hand on Pomni's back, comforting her from her nightmare. Kinger disappeared in the same direction as zooble and gangle, the first sniffles and crying audible as he left view.

I couldn't stay any longer. Before Caine could steal a glance at me, I took off running into the circus tent, calling Jax's name as I did...

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───