"Raagh! Joyling!"
"Huh?" I looked behind.
The creature standing on my window with shards of glass puncturing its skin is a more deadly beast than a human. They are not a good kind, nor are they ever made to smile. Frown is how they were made in the studio, with blood seeping blue as the rain to write their story.
For one instance, this being before me is called Frowling. They are corrupt by nature, how they were written simply to become my enemies. Frowlings are always hungry, and they want nothing more but a bite of a living. And the living they loved more to bite is a Joyling like me, who has a skin so glossy and a meat so tasty.
"Wants meat! Wants meat! Fresh Joyling meat!!" The naughty Frowling leaps before me, only to underestimate my agile feet. This clay beast called himself Bobo, who terrorizes Joylings a lot.
"No! Get away from me! Help! Help!" I yelled. I couldn't fend myself from his clay, terrifying claws. But he was slow, so it gave me enough time to run.
That blueish blood with a purple edge, the color that was supposed to be in a rainbow but has never made it past light blue. We Joylings truly hate these creatures for simply their never-ending hatred for Joyling in their nature, be it hunger, wrath, or pride.
Ever since I was here in this facility, I've seen more and more Frowlings being sent to the other side of this room, locked but not truly helpless. Everyday, there's always a Joyling to get wounded, just like me trying to fend myself off.
In my attempt to escape Bobo, I wound myself in the shoulder by a scratch. The rainbow blood leaking from my shoulder was pulling me down helplessly. I couldn't move past my scream going even further to the dorm, where the three egg siblings caught me.
"Aagh! Ouch! Oww....ugh!"
"Help! Help! Loose Frowling! Loose Frowling!"
"Joyling die! Joyling feast! I feed on Joyling!" Bobo keeps shouting at my ears.
This fight between me and the Frowling is tiring me, and it was unfair when you have a bleeding arm while doing so. My agility fends well against the Frowling, but the clay face plays dirty with his fist. It didn't take long until I was standing tired and helpless. The egg siblings stayed to watch for me, yet even I was helpless.
"Pristine Pearl, watch out!!" Yolk tried to save me, but it was too late for me to step out. The beast's claws are only a few inches from my head. But suddenly, I was saved just in time.
Woosh!
Before Bobo could lay a deep claw on my stomach, the humans arrived swiftly with their human darts. That one sharp dart made Frowlings sleepy and weak, helping me escape from him as he turned into a puddle of helpless goo on the floor. I was saved by the humans, which still puts me unease.
"There you are, you little—" The man stares at me wounded. Something was cut from his voice, and I couldn't tell what. He then proceed to change his tone to something soft.
"I mean, you bad Frowling! Don't you ever think of feeding on any of us!"
"Aargh! Eergh! Get off of me! I can't...I can't leave that Joyling—"
The beast was weakened and slumbered in a cage, just like how all of them should be. I was wounded heavily on my arm, and I couldn't move further without leaning on the wall. The egg siblings even came to my aid as they saw the helpless me, though I reassured them that nothing bad happened to me.
I sat on my bed, still trying to keep Joyus through my skin with my other hand. The humans did their best to keep Pearl safe, but the damage was done to make me gushing a spill and my mouth shut. I feel like they could've been more swift to help me.
"Pearl!" Carolina came right to me with a bandage and medicine. I feel relieved to see her among the humans.
"Alright, gotta go, kid. Your caretaker's here. Have fun!" The man finally left me alone.
"Ms. Carolina!"
I've cleaned my room as Carolina wishes, but the mean Frowling left a mess costing half my sweeping effort. Now Carolina will think I was lazy for not cleaning that mess on the floor. Now, Carolina had to help me clean the mess I've cleaned before.
"My...that wasn't supposed to happen on your journey, isn't it?" She sweeps beside me while I clean off the glass shards from my window.
"That's the third time we have to replace that glass. Do the Frowlings never learns to rest?"
"Miss Carolina, I think I'm not ready to leave this place yet," I had to break it to her.
The smile on Carolina's face wept in confusion. I know this would be a bad way to tell her, but I couldn't pretend I enjoyed this release while I was unprepared for it. I know these words were given yesterday, but I couldn't deny that I wasn't too attentive and aware. I was too busy holding myself.
"W-what do you mean? Don't you want to meet your family?"
"No, it's just. I'm not prepared for this...I have so much to set on my back, and I didn't know what and where to start..."
"It's been six years since I remember how I left the chair of enlightenment as a Joyling. It was weird, but somehow I get along with every Joylings for many suns."
"But now? To think I'm about to leave the world that was once mine? Would the world outside really have a friend like them?"
Leaving this Institute was one thing I could put behind my back, but alone in a world where everyone is a human? That felt too harsh for a Joyling, isn't it? What would I do alone? Without anyone to know or a friend to call? Hard to imagine a life where I was the only Joyling among humans.
"Ms Carolina..." She shows the wound. The bandage lasted too short.
"It's terrible. But don't worry, the infirmary could heal you..."
My hands were wrapped around my shoulders as I walked out of the corridor. The egg siblings missed a thing, but I worried they might have seen my struggle. I headed close to the corner, where I could keep my blood from being seen. So many Joylings who could've seen their Pristine Pearl in weaknesses, which can't be happening.
It didn't take long for more people to find out what happened in the upper dorm. The egg siblings snitched on me before I could stop them, and there was a commotion when they heard the word Frowling in it. So many of us are unhappy with the Institute's decision, but they couldn't help but ignore us.
"Pearl! Pearl! Are you alright?" There goes one Joyling I highly remember. Once my arch-enemy in the show we've been starring for long, now we are friends and even close. Doorwell Blushbloom; the second most popular but not the big four in the Joylings society.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." I replied, not wanting to scare my best friend with the blood.
"Are you sure? You look..."
"I'm fine, Doorwell. The Frowling couldn't even get to me right...not even a wound on me..." I gave her a slight truth of my strength.
"Yeah." Carolina looks away, helping me out with it.
Doorwell thought to herself; can someone so pristine like me be hurt by a mere Frowling? I was a tough Joyling, yet doubting my strength seems to be a question that happens around the hall. Perhaps it's because of my fear of humans.
"Well, if you say so—I have something for you!"
Doorwell offered me a gift for my bravery in a wreath. It has a vibrant circle of yellow, white, and pink flowers wrapped in a spider web and a few leaves. Though beautiful, I could not wear this beauty while my crown rested on my head with more meaning than the leaves could.
"Thank you. But I would like to keep my crown standing one last time." I gently refuse.
"O-one last time? W-what do you mean?"
Doorwell and I were enemies long before we arrived here. The ruckus we've made is not due to our indifference but something about our script. The studio thinks the two of us should clash for our beauty, which led me and her to so many tragedies.
But in the end, the two of us are finally at peace. Our fight was worthless, and our reason could not remain. Doorwell was never an enemy for me, and the innocence on her face only makes it clear that we were never a good rivalry. I'm so happy that it ends.
"I...I can't believe it. You were really going to leave? All of us?" Doorwell grasps my arms nervously. For once, I never thought I missed her.
"I'm afraid I have learned enough to ascend into the world now. I have everything here done, and I'll be the first one to walk into the sun and taste the light of the moon as I was once promised on the stage..." I replied as a mature Joyling and the big four I was.
"Oh, I see..."
I remember when I used to throw pearls onto her window way before I was in this Institute. She was angry, and then I got arrows in mine when I least expected it. I still remember when she swore vengeance after I ruined her hair and tore the string on her lyre while I stood gracefully from the stage that could have been hers.
"I'm sorry, Doorwell." I apologize.
"For what?"
"For everything. Every moment of your life that was caused by me." I hold my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"I've ruined your life for six years on that stage because of irrational contempt and desire for a spotlight. You could've been a big four back there, but I made it instead."
"I heard your music, your act, and even your secret activity once. I thought it was unfair that you didn't get even a slightest achievement for that,"
My shoulder is still hurt, but not as hurt as what Doorwell went through in the studio. I was unhappy with who I was once when I was a Joyling on the stage and how others might have been influenced wrongly by me. Doorwell is not someone who deserves to be hated because of me.
Carolina watched as I bid my goodbye to Doorwell, reminding her how much I care for her as a new blooming friend. I feel sad that she had to hear these moments before I left her, making me wonder if she would be alone like me here. But she seems to take it lightly, showing even more happiness from my remorse.
"N-no! It's not true! I don't deserve that place, Pearl! You worked hard for that! I'm not!" Doorwell tries to humble herself, but I wouldn't let her lose more than she has.
"Hehe, I know you'll say that. But I really wanted you to know that I never hated you for simply existing. You're more than that,"
"Aww, Pearl. You don't have to. I, too, never hated you that much! I was only told by the humans to compete with you. That's all!" Doorwell bows to me. It feels awkward to be honoured when I am around humans.
*Thought* "Humble she said."
Doorwell wasn't the only Joyling I was being mean to. I have some mean histories with a few Joylings because I was stage-obsessed. And it makes me feel even worse to leave them hanging. I decided that I had to forgive so many of my frenemies! For the betterment of all Joylings.
"Well, I had to go. Maybe we can meet again in the auditorium in the left wing? I planned to let more Joylings to know about my leave so they don't worry about me yet..."
"I'll gather as much as I could! I let everyone know you are leaving, Pearl!"
Doorwell takes it as an order for me. As I watched her rush out with her lyre and head towards the distant Joylings, I began reciting all my thoughts and problems in the past, looking for as many Joylings as I could to redeem myself. However, there's only one thing I couldn't get rid of.
One mistake, one past, and one tragedy that started it all. I was but an innocent Joyling who was pushed onto the stage with only one direction—ballet dance. I never asked for this, or maybe I did? The past me was blurry beyond the pearly skin, but I never wanted this kind of fame.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[5 Years Ago]
"No, no, no, no...!" I broke down in tears as I glanced at the reflection of myself in the mirror for the first time. I was dirty, my skin rotting and decaying into an abomination like Frowling. Before I wore this pink ballet suit as a gift to cover what was inside of me, I was a pure abomination. My bones were exposed, and it wasn't looking any good. I was afraid anyone could look at me like this.
"What a terrible look you have. Perhaps you need to cover them..." Sebastian offered me a blouse. The pink blouse I have been wearing now is what I have been known since.
The scent of medicine and stale metal was still strong in my nose. The moment I was awakened for my second perfection, I walked out of a white room without a thought as I watched a girl whose skin was almost transparent, where her bones were exposed, and who had the look of a ghost. I was beautiful unlike how the old me had my head dented, but at what cost?
"I pity you, Pristine. But you have to be careful. Someone is trying to expose you for this look." He said. He was clearly lying, but I was too young to know it.
"W-what? Who? Who could have been...?" My tears flow rapidly as I cover my waist with ribbon. I looked left and right, panicking and almost losing myself with the lies he made. Sebastian pointed out from the window and onto the floor below me, a purple-haired girl with a lyre whose smile almost competed with me.
"How did she...?"
"Doorwell started to look like you—pink, beautiful, and kind. I find her interest in you appealing but dubious." Sebastian laid his hand on my shoulder.
"Could it be that she was looking for something from you? Nobody could be that beautiful for no reason..." He teases.
I looked into her eyes, and she looked back at me with a wink. The little me thought she was ridiculing me, and I had never been so kind to her since. That day, I swore rivalry with her, hoping she'd be sent into the dark room before me. I made her suffer enough until she was who she was now. I feel remorseless, and her tears are forever carved in her cheeks with pain and humiliation.——————————————————————————————————————————
"There you go! You look much better now." Carolina patched my wound with a bandage. The look of that glossy skin beneath the cloth gives her a creep. But after my thought about Doorwell, I felt this humiliation was worth deserving.
"Thank you, Ms Carolina. I'll go prepare my bed once more. D-do I need to prepare anything else?"
"I'm afraid not. You don't have anything to carry here anymore, right? Aside from your mirror, makeup box. Just carry them in a bag and you'll be complete. Your family should have covered your needs."
"I wonder what family I have."
After leaving the infirmary, I happened to pass Doorwell once again. This time, she looked frowned and troubled, as if she was holding that grief of my leave deeply. When I tried getting closer, she remained silent, choosing to distance herself from me instead. I think I made a terrible choice telling her because she's not talking to me anymore.
"Doorwell?" I asked, but she was already far from my sight. She didn't even look back.
Carolina stood behind me from the infirmary's door, and when she saw what happened to me and Doorwell, she couldn't help but pat my shoulder and offer me candy for comfort. Perhaps this was a fitting end for me and her—sweet as the candy but bitter as the coffee.
"Candy?"
"Candy." I took it from her hand. Lucky for me, it was raspberry-flavored, and I love berries.