That encounter feels weird—sincere but weird. I remember so little about what happened in the room other than a voice before I was snapped out. I didn't feel much about my human family other than the relief of leaving this place. I felt distant, confused, and wondering as I left that party with Doorwell and Starglaze.
"So, this is it?" I mumbled.
"Is this how we would go now? I can't believe we're about to be a human separately."
Me and Doorwell were sitting beside, watching the sun together for one last time before we parted ways. I couldn't let her leave without a proper goodbye, knowing how much I'd make her miserable because of me. What makes it worse is that we are parting in a different way. She would be distant from me and Starglaze.
"Aww, Pearl. You don't really think we were separated that much, aren't you?" Doorwell teases me.
"Well, what if we do? What if the human world would be difficult for us to navigate? We could've lost each other!"
The garden was the only place we could settle for one last time because the sunlight here was our first wonder. We couldn't believe how warm and bright it was in our faces. Doorwell looks so much brighter beside me with that new hair. I wonder what she thinks about my glimmering face under the sunlight.
"Aww, but we can't judge all humans from Mr Sebastian. They're the ones who helped us, too. I'm sure they would let us in touch..." Doorwell was stubborn. She almost has it easy with the humans, but I could read otherwise.
"Hehe...I guess. But please, be careful and call me whenever you can. I know humans have a telephone out there."
"Don't worry, Pristy. I'm always calling! Once I get used to this human life."
I've been thinking a lot about this adventure I've had with her. I've never had a friend like Doorwell (let's assume Starglaze isn't around) who was as beautiful as me. I could stare at her all day long, looking at those wings I've never had and that hair I've never grown. But the humans had to intervene in this moment of clarity.
"Alright, Dorriel. Don't waste your time in this place anymore. Mom and Dad got us some trip a way out of here." Her brother dragged her out before my eyes.
"Come on, Christine. Best if we don't let the people here see us like this." My mother dragged me by my hands.
They were waiting for us. We couldn't let them wait any longer, and our human parents didn't give us much time to stay. Before I could share more about my experiences with her, the humans took us by surprise. Doorwell was heading away from me.
"Okay! You have to be patient for that, brother!" She mumbled.
"W-wait! Mother!" I begged.
Her lyre, my mirror—two things we have been holding dearly since our stage. I didn't think that one day it would be the last time I saw her lyre as she would see mine. I still can see how the lyre outshines my mirror, and it looks terrifying to me.
"Doorwell, listen! I know this is too short for us to do, but please remember when the three of us are going to be! Remember Pristine Pearl!" I was calm, ready to accept my leave. But Doorwell wasn't. She's too scared.
"Alright! I will!"
"Just don't forget about me!"
And that was the end of me. I never saw Doorwell since and she never heard of me again.
—————————————————————————————————
"Congratulations to Ms. Christine for her success!" Carolina pops a surprise—A balloon surprise.
Doctors are standing by the long door as my human family and I are about to leave this place with balloons in their hands. Yet the party was less colourful and prepared, seemingly made in a hurry. They clapped for me like I just finished performing. Carolina still proves to me as one of the most caring humans I've ever met. Only she knew I would favour a short party like this as a relief.
"I must say, for one challenging Joyling, you make swift progress against every odd."
"Heh," I couldn't be more flattered than that. Carolina knows how to compliment me to make my day.
"This feels less festive. My daughter deserves more than this!" My mother did not appreciate the effort.
"I want something more than this! Give me tension! That's why we're leaving, right?" Starglaze commented.
"Funny star." My father glanced from behind.
"Get ready! Just one step into the door, and you'll be greeted with a fresh—"
"Just one step into the door, and you'll be greeted with a fresh—"
I was ready to leave, watching the world beautiful again! But just as everything seemed calm and warm to me, I had to meet with humans again. More humans are waiting for me, but not the one I wanted to see. And it only gets worse by the sight of a flashing screen shutter before my eyes, right over my pearly eyes.
"—sunlight?" Carolina's grip on the door was stopped.
It's happening again. My days on the stage occur before my eyes with these humans. Their screen shutter was flashing before me and my human family. But not just a few humans—it's a lot of them waiting for me without a care. They were all just like every human! Always trying to get me on the spot like this!
"AH!" Pearl backs off with a horrified face.
"Woah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Starglaze jokes.
They wouldn't leave me without a notice. I was their most glistening and priceless star for the show. From the stairway to my new life, the humans and their stupid shutters are held before my face. I am not very happy and calm about this. My thought of them returns even stronger in trouble.
"There it is! Screen on, now!" One human sets their shutter on for me.
"What the...why are journalists here??" Carolina looked forward from the doctors. Not one has an idea.
They were all cluttered and confused, but their duty remained on the frontline. Only a little of them could stop what these people could do to me. But while it seems like I'm about to get into a moment of tragedy, I find a time spared by the help of the armed humans against...humans.
"You. What happened here? Didn't I told you to secure the place?" Carolina mumbled.
"We've tried, but these people are beyond our strength. They just so happened to be at the gate when we were guarding them," The man replies.
"We've had a whistleblower. Someone in our facility is sending information about us to the public press!"
"What...?" Pearl nods at the face of the doctors with horror.
There was no denying that I was no longer safe. With Wiltham's eyes opened before me, I shimmered into the world as a surprise no one had prepared. I feel weak and stiff, my bones couldn't move at the sight of those shutters. Oh, everything is dark when you see only a light.
"Clear the perimeter. Have the guards lined up so this family can leave."
"Got it!"
"But what about J-P-F-001? She won't be safe out there!"
"We'll have Starstuhm know that they won't be left alone."
Back to where it all began—a stage full of screen shutters waiting for me. Crowds once again loved what I gave to them, but they were waiting for me to look before their eyes. They wanted my face again—my pretty, pristine face. But they wouldn't have it this time—I couldn't let them! They didn't deserve it after everything.
"Come on, Pearl! The world awaits you!" They never change.
"Where's the beautiful pearl who awaits the moonlight?" Hearing that name again already annoys me. It scares me.
"Pearl..." A faint call from the audience for my name. This time, that voice is familiar.
"Pearl."
"Pearl!" I heard it. It was from Carolina.
Others were waiting for me on the other side, and I was here standing aimlessly as I was helpless. Luckily, I regained my senses and quickly left this unwanted view before it could get any worse.
"There you are! Now get out already! Your parents are waiting by the carriage."
"Yeah, Pristy. Don't get lost like that again...who could've been my friend in the human world?" Starglaze pushes me from behind.
My human parents prepared me a carriage, or maybe they were just riding it every day and here. Nevertheless, this was the perfect way out of this place and my new home. Those pesky and shutters-addict humans can't even catch me.
"Whoa, is that...?" I stared with a curious eye. I do feel appraised with the looks of it. It so fitting for someone like me.
"Yeah! You know the carrier, right? That's the thing we humans used to ride from place to place. Fancy, isn't it?" Carolina had me on this thing.
"I thought you said not everyone use this anymore."
"Can it really fit all of us? I didn't see much space there..." Starglaze mumbled behind our ears.
"Well, starling! Why don't you find a spot and find out? This carriage can carry the many likes of you if you must!" My mother immediately went off with Starglaze. I couldn't be bold with that tone.
I guess everyone didn't like Starglaze except me. Almost every human had him cornered at the part of this carriage for me, and I wonder if it was a good thing. My mother seemed happier when she saw my face, and my father even gave me a pat on the head.
"There you are, little one. I'm so proud of you, Christine." He finishes. Though complimenting, I don't want to lose my guard.
"Aww, great! So everyone just being a jerk at me now? Good, good! Whatever, I'm not mad." He crosses his arms. He looks so funny when he does that.
It was a tragic end for me and Carolina, for our goodbye was short and wasted by these humans. She was desperate, trying to protect the two Joylings she cared the most that she could not dare to cling to me just to buy another time.
"Ms Carolina, I know this isn't a perfect time to tell you, but I wanted to thank you for everything we have done in the two months! You are the best human I'll ever have." I gave my best to her.
"And I can't lie that I miss your grunts, too!" Starglaze gave a laugh.
"Aww, that's sweet! But I can assure you that I'm not going anywhere. Your parents assures you that we'll meet again anytime you wanted. Just call me whenever you feel like."
"Oh, really? Phew, I...I thought you were about to leave me...forever..." Pearl sighs in relief.
"Oh, Pearl. If I were to break that pristine heart of yours right here, do I even deserve all those gratitudes here?" She really knows how to make me happy.
"Now, go. Sail far and reach that moon you've been looking for." Carolina gave me one last command.
"O-on it, ma'am!" A salute she deserves.
I realised how comfortable a leather seat was. It was stretchy like rubber, and it was more cushy than a pillow. I never thought that they weren't made for me before. Those humans used to give me wooden chairs despite my peak performance and face.
"David, start the carrier now," My mother mumbled.
"I'm trying! But it won't budge! It's stuck..."
"What? You can't be serious! This is a new carriage, David. How can it break here?"
"Uhm, guys...?" Starglaze muttered with a suspicious eye.
Something happens on the carriage, and I'm worried enough that we're wasting more time because those shutters humans are approaching us. Either the machine was stiff, or the stars were pulling a joke on us. It wasn't a funny joke, and I don't like how close the humans eventually get.
"There they are! They're leaving this place!" A journalist glances to the left.
"Uh oh..." Carolina looks back.
"Don't let them get away!"
The humans and their screen captures could only mean one thing—One nightmarish session for a Joyling who has nothing to defend herself in the carriage she didn't control. Somehow, they found me, and still, they kept flashing before my eyes.
*Flash* *Flash* *Flash*
"Ms Starstuhm, please tell us! Are you still a human right there?"
"Are you really recovered from the trauma? Can you tell us about Sebastian to us?"
"What is it like there? Is there more of your kind inside?"
They were asking so many questions, and I wasn't ready to answer all of them! Silence won't change their minds, and their shutters are getting too intense. They started pushing their lights into my face, blinding me and my friends inside this small space.
*Flash* *Flash* *Flash*
"Is it true that they turned children into a mascot? Please tell us!"
"The news said they find him dead. But do you think he's still out there?"
"What did you see in that studio, young lady?"
"Dad!" I begged.
Lucky I was wearing the straw hat the human gave me; Otherwise, they would have found my identity immediately. Most of us are concealed, so none of us was caught by the shutters. Yet I'm unsure how long I could hold this up. If one of them dared to lift the hat, I might have been in big trouble.
"Alright, that's enough!" The father does something that actually works.
The carriage finally bends to my father's will. Whatever happens between the metals and wires, it was finally solved and released a sound I wanted to hear. Soon, the carriage started to charge up its path. Even an inch had finally passed on a wheel.
"Noo!!" The humans are in disbelief. Far from the sight of the Joyling, they lost their treasure. And still, they haven't gotten the answer they were looking for. The bad humans no longer harm me anymore.
"*Sigh* Phew...that was close..." Pearl relieves.
"I never thought I would ever feel so threatened for a—"
But just as I was about to lean for a seat on this leather chair, my skin caught me with a sudden, sharp cold. My roadway from this place was steep—so steep that I couldn't see the bottom. My heart leaps twice.
"—Flash??" My face was cold as it was glossy.
Zoom! That's how I imagine the sound when the carriage suddenly makes a sharp descension. Even a moon didn't fall this quickly, but this carriage gave me so little time to prepare. One star who floats freely thinks this is a ride, while the others think this is our demise.
"Woo! This is the best ride of my life! I could go down to this all day!"
"This is the worst ride of my life! I could go downhill and nothing else!" I'm holding at everything I have.
Bwoosh!!!!
One gust blows a final tune, and everything goes silent. As I thought my demise was destined, it was black for me—Ears ringing a high pitch and eyes shut tight. But I realized I still feel my body floating.
"Alright, you two. You can open your eyes now." My mother's voice are still close to my ears. That means I'm not dead! That was surprising to see. The ride has ended its extreme rail, and I haven't lost a skin on me.
"W-what? I'm still alive?" Pearl opens her eyes.
"I'm still alive! Haha! Hehe..."
"Augh..." I fainted. I couldn't endure the tension.
I fell into a deep slumber—had my body wanted to sleep so desperately. I didn't realize how tiring it would be for me to prepare all of this. But I am alive at last, in a world of humans as I wake up.
"W-what...? Where am I?" I awake—head's dizzy and eyes tired.
"Alright, you two! Feast your eyes on the world of humans! Welcome to Wiltham!" Donna opens a small window.
"Woah..." They muttered.
My home lies in this town called Wiltham, where I was once a human here. It was a shimmering town I would say, but there's something more disturbing to see through these humans. They do not look much adoring than I thought.