Work Text:
When it was all over, Pomni didn't know what to do with herself. Her time in the circus had changed her in a way she would never be able to fully describe. A way no one would understand unless they had experienced the same.
But there was no one who had experienced the same right? Because it didn't happen.
She had hoped that once she was out she would find relief and joy.
And at first she did!!!
She felt free. No longer under Cain's watch and finally able to have her own life!
But what is a life of your own after living in a different reality for two years?
But it wasn't really two years right? Because here she was only gone for two months.
Two years of being a computer programmed and now having to learn to survive in normal life again.
She had to learn to eat and sleep regularly again and her limbs were no longer familiar.
If she hadn't received a large transfer of money to her bank account as a “goodbye" from a strange number she would have thought she was crazy.
Sometimes she still thinks she is.
She found out that her previous job had fired her because she wouldn't show up but if she was honest, she didn't believe she could continue to work there after two years.
So she needed a new job, the money was enough for a while but not forever.
But for two months she tried everything to find out what happened.
As she woke up she was in a hospital bed, the doctor told her that she was missing for two months and was found three days ago.
Unconscious in the middle of the woods.
Her muscles were weakened because she had apparently not moved for a while and she was a little dehydrated but there were no other injuries to be found.
Completely healthy with a little help and after a week she was able to walk with help.
No one believed her as she talked about her experience.
Not her friends nor her family. Not the hospital nor the police.
Even with the money someone had sent her no one wanted to investigate.
So she tried it alone. As soon as she was released and could walk halfway, she got a board and red wool like she had seen in movies.
She wrote down all the things she could remember. She tried to find all the connections between her and the circus and connect everything but soon realized it wasn't leading anywhere
All her leads were dead ends and everyone she asked for help just told her she had to move on.
As also all online searches led nowhere, Pomni no Veronica had to admit to herself that she couldn't go on living her life like this.
She couldn't bring herself to throw away the board with all the theories she had made, but after two more months where it was unchanged and she realized that the same time had passed as she was apparently gone she put it in the basement.
She applied for new jobs and desperately tried to get her life back on track.
Only then did she remember her old YouTube account.
After everything that had happened, her small account with just 100 viewers was something she had completely forgotten about.
She still hesitated when she opened it.
This part of her life had been before everything, before she had a new name, a new look, a different life.
And to return to the young woman she once was? The one who investigated abandoned buildings and only had three, no, only two people who ever watched her videos and left comments?
That was no longer her.
But she signed in. And was surprised to see over 30 notifications.
Apparently the only two people who always watched her videos had become concerned when no more videos came in and had been asking about her in the comments and-
Pomni Veronica blinked when she saw the messages from the jester.
The jester had probably been her first follower. They had supported her when she was just a newbie.
They gave her tips on which camera to use and how she could improve.
They were funny and made jokes and didn't take anything seriously but was still the person who taught Pomni Veronica everything she knew with comments and DMS.
She had been devastated when they suddenly stopped committing one day and had been worried as they also didn't replied to Dms.
Seeing that in the last month they had watched and commented on all her videos, that they hadn't commented on before, was something that almost brought tears to her eyes.
But as she looked over the notifications she froze.
Not because the messages were moving or because of nostalgia.
No, it was because of a DM they sent her a few weeks ago
It was only two sentences but it changed everything.
"You know, I should change my name to something like purple rabbit. After all, the jester is now more your thing right? Pomni”