"Hmm..." Pearl hums a tune in her seat. The carriage rolls on the railway without a horse or a push, but with an electrical motive.
It's been nearly an hour since she left the hill, and she's still riding on the carriage while viewing the human town. Her friend Starglaze floats freely like usual, while Pearl is stuck on her chair with an unwelcoming glare from her human parents. Looks like they weren't happy with Pearl, but with someone else.
"Christine, why don't you take that hat off now? There's no reason for you to hide anything to us, right?" The mother mumbled with her eyes away.
"Well, I wanted to keep it this way until I get home. Don't want to...not wearing enough while I'm here..."
"Well, that's reasonable. I believe once we're home, you'll find more comfort with more appropriate foot."
"What's wrong with my foot? I didn't have dirt on my foot, right?" She questions with her shoes up. Her mother looks more pitiful for her.
But Pearl's eyes caught more than their thoughts. Outside, the world was grey and a bit yellow in the sky, and yellow was not a good thing for this town. Perhaps fitting into this town would be more challenging with those kinds of garments.
"Why does everyone look sad here, mother? I thought your world was—bright." Pearl looks in disgust.
"Yeah! I can't believe this is my audience of a six-year performance!" Starglaze complained.
"Oh, dear. They're all happy with themselves! You just can't see it from here..." Donna mumbled.
"R-really? Humans are weird..."
Why is there so much smoke coming out of the houses? Are humans just cooking things? Are they really that hungry? They make the view worse with their blackened clouds flying in the sky. Now, Pearl can't even see the sun well from here.
'Hey, lady! Catch!" A young kid yells energetically enough to catch Pearl's attention. But not in a way she expected it would be. In a moment of shame, her face was covered in mud when she poked out of the window.
"Aah! My face!" She yelled.
"Christine!" The mother yelled.
"My eyeshadow! It's ruined...it's ruined..." She covers her face with shame.
"Ugh, insolent children on the street! Always a troublesome!" David complained.
"Huhuhu...I can't look like this..." She weeps.
"That's not true, Christine. You're all right!"
The carriage rolls, and the contempt follows. Each swirl Pearl practices, each spin she takes on the stage, and each jittery she endures from tiring herself—and this was all for these people to give. These are the people she was entertaining with? How unamusing yet sad—no wonder why they adored so much.
She holds her hat from the others. No one but her can see the ballet they were praising. Now she must wear her hat even lower because of that naughty kid.
"Mom, why do these people look at me? Do they hate me...?" Pearl covers her face again.
"What? No! No, they aren't. Well, they are looking at our carriage, though..." Donna closes the curtains.
"Why?" Starglaze hovers.
"Because they don't have one."
"Why don't they have one?"
"Because they can't have one."
"Why can't they have one?"
"Because they aren't us. They can't afford their own..."
Starglaze pauses, "Why...?"
"They're not a star."
"How sad..." Pearl mumbled in a mixed tone.
Is this what the human world is? Pearl thought all those sets on the stage and the scenery hidden in the red curtains were just a play. That was a glum and dull scene that no Joyling wants to play. But now she knows what humans are—a hypocritical judge with a jealousy for her.
"What do you think, Pearl? Is there anything you find familiar in this place? Maybe we could get you some of your childhood clothes?"
"I could get used to this. That makes me feel more—thrilled." Pearl smiles vividly and with a frown. For a moment, there was a hope, but now there was a swarm of flies flying over her face.
"Aah! What is this?!" She screams—eyeshadow ruined again.
Now, what would her home look like? Are these colours natural to all humans? Are dullness and blandness within their souls the source of their life? That could be imagined every day when she wakes up, glaring at a horrible sight.
"Huhuhu...why is everything hate me here...? Huhuhu..." She weeps.
"I hope I was wrong..." Pearl mumbled.
"I hope I was so wrong about this..."
———————————————————————————————————————————
[Wiltham Mountain]
It was home at last, and it was dusk when they arrived. That home was somewhere high atop a mountain, passing only by an ascending rail and a thick fog. That fog was cold and dense like a wall, perhaps to sway humans from daring in. But the other side was bright and lively, much different to the human town.
The rail rests upon a mansion—lying on a hill like its own paradise. The gold gates on the frontline opened instantly, yet nobody was there to open them. Like one castle in a distant sky, this mansion felt like a dream come true.
"Brrr...Are we...are we living here...?" Pearl shivers.
"Yeah. We have this mountain for ourselves, Christy. What do you think?" David mumbled.
"I like it! I love this place! It's far from town! And it's high!" She adores.
"But it's cold...brr..."
"With a dress and a glove like that, you'll get used to that kind of cold in no time, Christine." The father jokes.
Crack! "I think something just cracked..." Pearl froze.
The rail ended in this mansion, and the first thing she stepped into this world was the marble tiles lying on every corner of this garden. Sure, perhaps some rocky plates on the ground, but they're not as much as the soft, slippery marble that Pearl swipes her shoes on. She surely needs to see more of these tiles inside the house.
"I was so wrong...and I like it..."
"Uh-uh..." Starglaze teases.
"What?" Her smile faltered at the sight of Starglaze's smirk. His stare was as malicious as a thief.
"Aww, Starglaze...what if I get to live horribly with humans? What if they don't know me~?" He parrot.
"I never said that!" She burst out—too blushy, too loud.
"Oh, you sweet silly Joyling. Think you can fool this star after all those years? Think again! Hehe..." He left her wandering—a friend he had always been.
"Oh, whatever...I'll go look around this place, then!"
Grasses don't grow here, but water does. Lots of splashy pools around the porch—all clean like a bathtub. Clearly this was not an appropriate place to bathe or a clam to stand shimmering. But who can't resist the pristine reflection from the water that reflects such a pearly view?
*Splash* *Splash* *Splash* She taps the water softly.
"Yep...that's water...so real..." Pearl commented.
"Hehehe, look how happy and simple our daughter is. Quick, take a screen shutter." David stands happily.
"No!!" Pearl yelled, echoing the water with her scream. That instantly changes the mood.
"I mean, not here...! I don't want to look like this in the picture...! Hehe...!" She walked off.
*Splash* A fountain springs. Her hands had never covered that face so fast.
"And not with this look!" She fled.
Weirdly, statues seem to always be a crack or a goner. Those beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen can't show their faces around Pearl—it begs even a question about whether they're one. But all these statues look like they were carved with pure love and adoration for someone so admiring. Who could've torn their beauties?
"M-mom? Why are those statues...off-headed?" Pearl observes—fingers poking those rocky humans with tease.
"Oh, they're just like that, Christine. Not many of these people last longer than you think." The human smiles, calm as the water.
"But I think they're...neat. Well, maybe you should add my face in it?"
"We would like to. But we're no carver...maybe I'll ask for a sculptor to see your—?"
"N-no, it's okay! I think my face may look so odd for a display, anyway." Pearl blurted, her smile stretched before her mother could complete that sentence.
Woosh! The stone dust blows into her face, messing with her eyes again.
"Aww....not again..."
But waste no more time with this scenery; the real surprise lies behind the two black doors with a gold knob. Pearl couldn't hold her patience and hat longer for the big surprise. The father, the mother, and Starglaze wait by the door for her to help them open it.
"So...? Can we see the mansion?" she asked, smiling sideways, her tone light but eager.
"Aww, look who just has some energy going up. Looks like our little ballet was on a different shoe today." The mother appraises, teasing.
"Oh, quit with the facade, Pearl. We can see how much you're excited for this."
"Oh, really? I didn't know that..."
The door opens before Pearl's eyes—the mansion unveils itself. As the black door swung sidely, the Joyling was in a good time for a show. She stood at the center, holding Doorwell's wreath impetuously. Starglaze could only hold his bow at this moment.
"Come on in! Welcome home, Christine! Time to relive that past once more, shall we?"
"Yeah! Yeah!" She claps in a jovial manner.
"I better have a personal room here! Not for sleeping, just for personal reasons..." Starglaze brags.
Her eyes glimmer in excitement. She couldn't hold herself. The red carpet on the floor led her eyes into a beautiful hallway, until that hallway dimmed, and the lights appeared so frail and flickery. That moment was a big letdown for her.
"Oh...?" Pearl mumbled. Smile had never faded so quickly.
"What in Frowling's teeth..." Starglaze commented.
Her hopes might be too high. The mansion looks simpler than she thought a castle would be. Those walls are not painted with stars as she had thought, but they are not as ugly as a plank of wood or concrete is when it is stuck on a pillar. She didn't expect maroon paint to fit well with black wood.
There's not much to decorate this home other than a few paintings that don't even shimmer for an exhibition. However, they do not bring a sore to her eye when she sees them. Instead, they felt like a wall picture that painted something more than a light. Only a few painted a human, and the rest was—absurd.
*Blink* *Blink*
"Well, still remember this place? Or are we still in that...missing chapter?" The father sets a playful tone.
"It's not bad, but..." Her tone is mixed between happy and disgust.
"Why is it small...?" Fingers knocked on the wooden wall. The echo was deep in the earth.
"Well, nobody lives here but us, Christy. Surely we can't just invest so much space here, right?" The mother places her coat on the hanger beside the door.
"Why not?" Starglaze pokes.
"Because with pension wealth, we maintain ourselves in our home appropriately. Besides, we're not spending an entire pension to make an unnecessary space in this house."
"Or an unnecessary brag from a talking star," David stares disgusted at Starglaze. His gaze lingered long enough to feel like a question left unsaid.
But as Pearl said, it wasn't too bad for a home. It wasn't just as big as she thought it would be. So many hallways dipped in red, and so many hallways for a few spaces. How many steps did Pearl have to walk only to find one room that isn't a long passage?
"Mother? Mother?" Pearl yelled. She was lost in its maze, and somewhere that was not a room to stay.
"Hey, where are we? Are we lost? I can't be lost! I'm a star! I can't be lost! Augh..." Starglaze hovers around.
"Reminds me of Mazy Hazy palace with that man..."
"No, I can't sweat here...Not with these red cheeks! Not with my fifth eyeshadows!" Pearl grasped fearfully.
"Eww, did you smell that? Smells like someone mixing flowers and dung here...!"
"Pearl..."
"Did you hear that? Someone's calling on me..." Pearl looked back.
"I didn't hear anything. Are you sure it's not your head's doing again, Pristy?" Starglaze teases.
The humans find it easy to be here. For a moment Pearl was going far to the left, her mother's echoes from the right. For another moment Pearl was going further to the right, her father's chatter echoed behind her. And for the third time she kept going forward, their chatter echoing left and right.
"Augh! What is this place!" Starglaze rants.
"Come on, Pearl! Let's go back to where we started before we get lost like a Joyling." He hovers with such hate for this maze. But Pearl was nowhere near him.
"Pearl? Pearl? Friend, where are you?"
"I'm lost..." Pearl muttered, "And it's so stinky here..."
"And I am ugly again..."
"My Pristine Pearl..."
"I am a beautiful girl...I couldn't be ugly..." She mumbled.
Somewhere, these two Joylings still wander through the hallways looking for something—a room or a way out. But nothing changed about this wall other than a growing smell of decaying roses and sweets lingering in the air. Somehow, something this fragrant can be so insufferable.
Doorwell's fragrance could not compare with that. But no flowers are in this home, so it didn't make sense for such stinks to come out. What did the humans put into the paintings and walls? They don't even seem affected by it.
"Oh, no! I only have one more, Starglaze! I don't have enough to keep up! What do I do...?" Pearl checks her makeup box.
"Augh....this is the worst day for my face to shine...worst even!"
"You say that! But I haven't changed anything in my face since I arrived here..." Starglaze brags.
It's been the sixth time Pearl had to change her eyeliner again. This world hated her so much if they couldn't let her glimmer in peace. Winds, muds, dusts, and swarms are trying to make her ugly. Now she's here still looking around for a way out of this maze while her face is half-torn.
"Christine? Sweetie, are you there?" The mother reached the stairway, only to find her nowhere.
"David, you see Christine and that star guy?"
"No. But I hear so much wailing from those two. Perhaps they really don't remember, Donna..."
"It couldn't be! Would we lose that chance if she did? What if that changes everything, David?" Donna grips the stairs' rail tightly, fear-stricken.
They went out so easily on this trip. First, they got onto the stairs, and now they got into the doorway with ease. Meanwhile, Pearl was somewhere alone and separated before she could even notice Starglaze was away. That revelation itself is enough to turn the place terribly.
"Pearl." A shadow appears behind her with its hand on her shoulder.
"S-Sebastian?? How did you...n-no! I can't...it can't be!" She fell on her back. As fast as she could, she tried crawling back from the man, but the shadow only stood there watching.
"Get away from me! Help!!" She yelled.
———————————————————————————————————————————
Somewhere, the humans were waiting for Pearl to come out. But they never get to see her in either. Just as they were about to come in to find her among the maze, a white carriage appeared at their gate, asking to be let in. But the parents couldn't trust these people.
Woosh! A carriage comes in uninvited through the gate.
"Who's that?"
"I don't know, but we better checked it out." The father mumbled.
Pearl was there, fighting for her life. Perhaps not fighting, but she was not in a peaceful time with the shadow. It appears so tall and grim, capable of ripping anything with its claws. Pearl, who was only a Joyling without a grip of reality, finds herself stunned before the shadow's menacing entrance.
"Ehehe...Mr Sebastian! F-fancy to see you here...I thought...I thought you were on a...vacation...?"
"My Pristine Pearl..."
"Y-yeah! I am! I'm still your P-Pearl!"
"Give into me...your hands...let me brushes off that...darkness..."
The shadow reaches for her hand. What seems to be a comforting approach was clearly a trap. Pearl's eyes have never been so pressed to scream, but she couldn't scream with a tight throat and twitching eyes and fingers. The shadow is tempting for a scare, with its sharp claw.
"Aah! Noo!" Pearl fled further into the hallway, wherever she could find herself far from the shadow.
"Starglaze! Starglaze! Starglaze, please don't ignore me!!"
"Starglaze!!!"
Without looking cautiously, she crashes into a door.
"Ouch...what am I hitting onto...?" Pearl rubs her head.
"Oh, Pearl~! I have a surprise for you...want to see what this ribbon could do?"
"Aah!" She rushes into the room behind the door.
She fled so far that she ended up safe and sound in a tight room. Such a small room, but it looks safe and better than an empty hallway. That shadow may not follow her here, but it surely is still out there waiting for Pearl with its sharp claws and a handful of ribbons.
She pants heavily—no rest for her lungs and eyes.
"Oww...huhuhu....why is this happening to me...?" She cries.
"First, my makeup is ruined, and now this? What's wrong with me...?"
"Huhuhu...where is Starglaze? Where are my parents? Where is Carolina? I don't want to be here...huhuhu..."
No more running, no more crying—it was too tiring. Pearl had never been this tired before, and she knew she wouldn't be in many years. But these humans are growing more irritating than she thought they would be. Just from the look by the window, everything seems to be peaceful there than here.
"I'm tired...why am I tired? I shouldn't be tired..."