Isn't it beautiful? Pearl was not only the first Joyling to be in a human world, but also far from misery. From a dark studio filled with all the rainbows and dazzling stars, into a not-so-bad mansion. Life was better here than back then. But what about that life? What about that past? Why was it so filthy?
"Haha! Woo!"
"Keep it up, everyone! We don't have time for prep! The stage is on!"
Everything in Joylingers was extraordinary. What seems to be a studio meant for drawing Joylings into life was more of a living town for them instead. With people whose faces are not like the outsiders, Joyling were a creature of privilege and fame.
She has everything set in pink. Her wardrobe, her bed, and even her floor are the colour of the dress she wears. She even has one spotlight aimed at the mirror for herself, one which belongs to the true beauty within her.
Pearl couldn't live in a boring dorm—Pearl deserves a better place. For a Joyling like her, her name was above all Joylings. In that life, everything is as colourful as she is. But even in that life, she wasn't happy with herself.
"Aww...huhu..." Pearl slams the door shut.
"Pearl, what's the matter? You look sadder than usual..." Starglaze munches on a cheese.
"I...I failed everyone...I failed Sebastian and my audience...*sobs* I can't do this...!" She quickly goes to her wardrobe to hide.
"What do you mean? That show was amazing! You did well!"
"But Sebastian didn't like it! He hated it! How can I be happy if he isn't? Huhuhu..."
For a failure, Pearl had to have a little punishment. Only hiding could save her from what Sebastian would do to her. Yet she knew none of this would change anything other than proving her trust and love for the humans, especially Sebastian.
"Gee, Mr. Chrome could've given us a break once? It's not like we have all the time in this place for him..."
"I'm scared...Starglaze, he's going to put me in the dark room," Pearl cries.
"W-what? No way! It was just a little failure! How can he?" Starglaze was shocked.
Something awaits Pearl in grim hands. Only with the word 'dark room,' Pearl shivered in her soul. She couldn't even write her apology well with a twitching finger, while her eyes were soaked with tears, blinding her with a wavy sight. Her teeth gritted in fear as she watched the clock ticking to six at night.
Crack! The graphite on her pencil breaks.
"Starglaze, you need to help me! Please, help me!" She falls from her chair.
"I...I don't know...What if Sebastian finds out?" Starglaze panicked.
"Mr. Sebastian can't find out! He's going to punish me! I don't want to be punished in the 'dark room'!!" She yelled in desperation.
She cries as loud as she can, but there's nothing for her to help. One mistake changed everything, and Pearl can only accept what was given to her. Not even Starglaze could stop what's coming for the two.
Knock. Knock. Knock. It was the inevitable sound from her door. Whoever knocks on her door is no Joyling or Frowling by now. There could only be one person who was looking at her that night. And as she expected, it was a tall shadow like no one else.
"Pearl, can we talk? I need to see your face," Sebastian mumbled.
"Oh no...Oh no...no, no, no, no..." She froze.
"No, no, no, no, no, no...!"
Everything is dark. Yet Pearl can feel an itch on her skin—everywhere—in every part of her skin. What happens after the door is opened becomes vague. It was all pain, misery and perhaps something beyond a word. But it is sure that something tall and creepy seeps life out of her.
"Please don't make me, my star."
———————————————————————————————————————————"Haah! Augh..." She awakens. That sleep on the lounge couch was so comfortable.
It's a mansion again—still genuine for Pearl. Another daydream for the girl who still dreams of the past. But each wake relieves her from the worst, with who knows how long she'll keep enduring this dream. And who knows what covered her face now that she's running out of makeup.
The day is still young. In fact, it is dusk right now. The humans are outside, while Pearl is still inside the maze. It took her a few lefts and rights to find this lounge, and Starglaze is echoing somewhere on the first floor, looking for help—poor creature is not as lucky as Pearl is.
"Pearl! Pearl! Where are you?" Starglaze wanders around.
"Did you really just leave me here?"
"Uhm, I'm in a lounge here! Try to look for that!" Pearl yelled from the door.
"What? Are you serious, friend??"
"I can't go! I'll be lost again if I do. Just follow my voice!"
She has to wait for now. It's a reasonable size for a lounge, but they forgot to bring tea and biscuits to the table. It's like a cell for a criminal—no way out of this place. The only things lying on the table were her mirror and a makeup box to make up for that dull wood. Waiting sure feels tiring lately.
There is a window behind her, with a clear view of what's lying outside. It was somewhat of a wonder—No more false paint on the wall to tell a story about a night sky, only a real moon and stars hovering in the dark clouds, although such scenery lasts short with Pearl's growing thoughts.
She breathed a heavy sigh, tasting the weird air around the lounge.
"Are you looking at me, Mr Sebastian? I hope you do..." She utters.
"I haven't seen you for months...I wonder if you're still there...watching for me..."
"Do you think I'm still beautiful...? Even in this...blue dress...?"
"I wonder...if you are..." She reaches for the light on the ceiling.
But even after everything, she couldn't leave that moment of darkness. It was not dark, but being bright makes it more horrifying. She remembers a spotlight, a stage, and a backstage. Each time she closes her eyes, that figure remains in the shadow, looking for her.
"Take that off...the blue doesn't suit you..." Someone says.
"I can't...no, you wouldn't like it! The looks of this dress is too ugly!" Pearl grasped her forehead pearls.
"I have to...I have to wear my ballet dress...I have to wear my dress!"
"I have to take this off! Take this off!" She grasped her dress, ready to tear it down. Tears flowed from her eyes with fear.
Such a narrow thought, and a narrow place. It's hard to enjoy things alone without thinking of something bad happening. Pearl's makeup box is running out of juice, and her mirror is useless at complimenting her looks. She could only please her patience with chatter to her hands. At least it sounds less insane than talking to a wall.
"N-no...what am I doing?" She stops, "I shouldn't think of that...I shouldn't think of this!"
"That isn't a good thing to think of. It's not good...it's not..."
"Take it off..."
"No, no, no, no!"
The lounge door slams, with Starglaze's desperate and disappointed face coming in as a guest. Wrinkled and tired, his gleam nearly left by the door.
"No doubt I heard that wail from a distance!" Starglaze angers.
"Starglaze! You look—awful, friend..." She praises him. Relief runs over her face as she sees him coming urgently.
"I don't know, Pearl. I like this look on me! Speaking about how I am struggling to be here without my friend! What else do you want me to do? It's all so smelly here!"
"Oh...so you've find the stairway, dear friend?" Her thumbs rubbing on one another, trying to erase that fear out of her.
Starglaze came too late, though Pearl couldn't blame him for that. It's not like any of them are familiar with this room either. They've been circling around here for too long, stared by the red wallpaper whose eyes are shady.
"Pearl, where are you?" Sebastian calls her with a whisper.
"W-who say that?" Pearl tilted left and right with fear.
"Who say what?"
"T-THAT? You don't hear that! That's Sebastian's voice!"
"Girl, you keep saying that when we're here! Don't you know how impossible that was? That sounded like your head telling you that!"
"I swear I heard him!"
"Why the blue dress?"
"Noo!!" She yelled.
It's getting night, and the humans aren't outside anymore. They must have been waiting for these two, which means they must find them before something terrible happens. But Pearl and Starglaze are still lost, with only a few inches out of the door, and they've had no idea where they came from.
"Mom? Mother? Mom?" Pearl stands in suffering for these odours. Her voice tries calling her, but there's no response.
"Try Father. Maybe he'll find us first beforehand..."
"Father! Dad! Father!"
"Yo, old man! Where are you at? We're stuck here! Maybe some hands??"
"*Cough* *Cough* I can't...breathe..." Pearl chokes.
"Pearl..." Sebastian's voice called for her.
"No! No! No, don't hurt me!"
"Augh, it's too painful here! It's almost like it's coming from the..." Pearl sniffs the wall.
"The wall..."
The pungent smell is still as strong as before. It was everywhere, deluding these two eyes with stingy air. There's no escape from these odours, for they are everywhere, and they keep walking into them. Not for long, Pearl draws herself close to the wall and finds something she didn't expect.
"The wall made this smell." Pearl rubs the wall with disdain.
"What?" Starglaze wonders.
"The wall...it was the stink..."
Starglaze pauses. He knows what to do.
It begins from the wall. The wall bears this horrible scent that makes Pearl and Starglaze's noses sick. They knew something was wrong from this hallway just for being too red. So they have to do what is necessary to keep their eyes straight.
"What are you doing...? You can't do that!" Pearl panicked.
"You want to live or not? This wall is killing me!"
"But this is my home! You would tear my home right before my eyes, Starglaze?"
"I would if I could resist this smell! But I can't be confined
"I...umgh..." She gags. The air is getting fishy.
Pearl hesitates, but she follows along.
"Pearl..." Sebastian's voice is calling again.
"Eek! No!"
But when they were finally screaming like a damsel, the humans found them under a chandelier, rubbing wallpaper off with fury and disgust. This red-painted well reeks so much poison in the air, and the two Joylings renovated it so they could breathe easily.
"Christine? What are you doing?" She yelled.
Of course, the mother wasn't happy about this. The wall is torn, half done, and the smell of wood has finally replaced the weird, rotting flower-like smell. Pearl was caught without a word, and she who joined this madness became a victim before Starglaze. Such unfair treatment.
"M-mom! I can explain...I...it's too smelly here..." Pearl stutters.
"Yeah! What's this house made of? Why is it so smells like iron?"
"Iron? I thought it smelled like a flower?" Pearl nodded
"You...smell something...?" Donna stares with concern and confusion.
"Y-yeah! There's something in the wall that smells h-horrible...and it was around us..."
"Go check it out, lady! It smells like someone mixing one of Pearl's nail polishes with Dawn's ironwork." Starglaze stands firm.
For that reason, the human checked for the truth on the wall with a sniff. Sure enough, she feels that odour like Pearl does—sharp like a needle, yet fragrant. But her look in horror was somewhat a surprise as her hair all risen, and her arms twitched back like a slingshot. Something makes her more terrified about it than Pearl is.
"You two, get out of this place, now!" The mother stares with thin pupils at them.
"W-what?" Pearl backs off. Her tone is too angry to be taken comfortingly.
"Get out, now! This house isn't safe! Now!"
"Where? We can't find the way out of here!"
"Just keep going south! You'll find a way out!"
"But we've already gone south! We...ugh, just lead us out, lady!" Starglaze hovers away to the south, with Pearl running behind.
———————————————————————————————————————————
[Outside]
Those two Joylings were leaving the home at last. How they haven't reached the outside for so long makes them even more relieved when they see the two doctors waiting for them. It was such a horrible day inside! But at least they get to breathe fresh, undampened air from the outside.
"Pearl? Pearl, are you alright? You look unwell!" Daniel rushes.
"Where have you been? We've been looking for you!"
"I don't know *cough* *cough* I was at home...so long...air so thick... can't breathe...*cough* *cough*" She sat on the ground with a dizzy head.
"We can't leave the home *cough* *cough* So many hallways on the house! It's like a maze!" Starglaze leans on Pearl's shoulder.
The doctors were surprised to finally see her after hours. Who knows how long they have been waiting there? Pearl was filled with too much doubt in her head that she couldn't go out without a thought. Her head is still dizzy, remembering that putrid smell like remembering her own failure on the stage.
"Oh, thank goodness you've warned me earlier about that acetone poisoning in the home! We really need to change that painting immediately!" Donna kneels for a hug. One is happy
"A...what?" Starglaze surely knows what that means.
"P-poison? T-there's a poison there? You're poisoning the house...?"
"I'm so sorry... I didn't realise you were inhaling that stuff while we were outside. You must've been asleep for so long you couldn't tell us earlier!" The mother hugs tighter.
Pearl
"I don't get it. What are you talking about? Am I really getting poisoned?" She couldn't connect the dots well from her words.
But to her surprise, she was one step away from death with Starglaze. Something about the walls really played with their minds, turning reality into a game of suffering. Pearl had never thought she would be fated to be ill by a wall.
"You see, Pearl. Acetone smells sweet and fruity—often a flower-like. But it's dangerous because they make you see things that wasn't there! The moment you smell a pinch, you'll start seeing and hearing things around that isn't there..." Daniel comes in to lecture. A sense finally snaps into the two Joylings at last.
"Y-you mean all those voices I heard were...the wall's doing?" Pearl tilts her head back and forth from the mansion to the doctors.
"Yep. I hope it didn't say something weird to you when you were around there...it could get worse..."
The walls are poisoned, tainted with something unimaginable. How could humans have such a weapon like this? Pearl was putting her life in danger just for a sleep and a talk with a ghost.
But that makes her relieved at last. For a moment, she thought she was haunted by the apparition of her 'saviour' on the stage. But it seems her mind plays wild in the room. Today was a wild day, and maybe tomorrow it will be as wild as this one!
"Wait, does that mean that maze wasn't real, too?" Starglaze questions with disappointment.
"What maze?" David replies.
"I knew it!! Ugh, so I've been circling around the house for so long! Terrible dreams, I hate you and your terrible game! Bring me close to the stars so I don't have to see this nonsense!"
Starglaze hovers above with disdain, leaving Pearl alone with the humans.
"What did you see there, Pearl? You look like you saw a ghost." David jokes.
"K-kind of..." She chuckles. That smile was delightful, as her sight is now clear and doubtless. Though that memory serves as something of a reminder. Never trust a shadow.