Opposites Abstract - Pomni x Male Reader

Chapter 15 - Under Lock and Key

The cold was never much of a problem in the Amazing Digital Circus.

Everywhere, always, was permanently a tepid, lukewarm temperature that was perfectly inoffensive. Call it strange, but you start to wish for a different feeling. If a day were slightly warmer or colder it may at least make it unique. But no, from the minute you step into the circus, it's that frustrating temperature. Like water left on a windowsill for too long. The Tent, the Grounds and even the Void all stayed the exact same warmth. All the time. For all time. Forever.

That's why when Y/N and Pomni stepped through that doorway it came as a welcoming shock when a wave of coldness washed over the two of them. It felt different, and that alone made it unnerving, but the sights of the place didn't help.

The Darkness is an apt name. Surrounding the pair was complete jet-black nothingness, broken occasionally by a random quick flash of colour or light, usually a red, blue, green or variation of those colours. In the distance, however, these flashes of light seemed to bend and warp in strange ways that was almost indescribable due to their abstract nature. You'd swear you see a face, or a letter, or a symbol, or a door, or another person, floating through the dark expanse as cluelessly as you were. It reminded Pomni of a black hole; light and matter bends from the sheer power of a black hole as if their very existence relies on and is diminished by the mere thought of it. The fact that the distance reflected this logic did not put the mind at ease.

Another thing that couldn't be ignored was the noises. Strange Lovecraftian gurgles and alien shrieks echoed throughout the Darkness, rippling through distorted noises and howling winds. There was also a soft lapping of waves as if it were mimicking a calm ocean. Despite the constant noise, however, the place felt eerily silent. You could hear your own breath, you could hear your own heartbeat. You could probably hear your own blinks if you listened hard enough.

Pomni's hand tightened around Y/N's as they drifted into the Darkness.

Pomni - "What... the fuck."

Y/N - "Yup."

Pomni - "I-It's so cold..."

Y/N - "It is chilly, isn't it? Strange."

Pomni looked around her. The doorway they stepped through was still there, flickering a glitchy red like Y/N's ring was. Speaking of, the ring was shooting off occasional red sparks that floated forward, creating a small fairy light trail of sorts. Y/N reached out his free hand and grabbed one of the sparks.

Y/N - "Woah."

He pulled it towards the two of them and gently opened his palm. The light blinked back at them, like a miniature star Y/N had caught. Warmth was radiating off of it. You could feel it against your skin. It was far more noticeable in parallel to the coldness of the Darkness.

Pomni - "It's really pretty."

Y/N - "Hmm. I'm gonna try something, hang on."

Y/N lifted his hand up and threw the star forcefully below him. Like an arrow in a siege it flew and whistled before expanding into a thin red pathway that snaked forwards to meet the next star in the sequence. In response it too extended, growing and extending to the next light, and the next, and the next. Soon this singular pathway branched out into a plethora of roads and pathways, all illuminated in a faint red light. It almost resembled a root system or veins. Many of the pathways crossed over one another, overlapping and flowing like rivers cascading down from a mountainous source. Soon they stretched as far as the eye could see. You could now see the bottom of the Darkness, which seemed to resemble deep, inky water.

Pomni - "Woah! How'd you do that?"

Y/N - "I just thought of a pathway. I knew this place was 'untapped creative potential' and all that, but this is... woah..."