As I left the door with Doorwell on my side, I saw only the long hallway ahead of me. The darkness is still here, for everyone here is still beneath the surface, far from the sunlight and covered in a wall of rocks. From a distance, I see only an elevator waiting for us.
"I can't wait to do human things with you, Pearl!" Doorwell excites.
"Me, too! But I'm going to have a hard time finding a perfect time to do that with many humans around. I can't go out with this look, after all." I held my mirror out as I perched that pearly look. I remember that I used to have a sphere head instead of this. It looks weird, and I even have a wrinkle under my eye. What happened to me? Is this what growth feels like? Even Doorwell still looks enticing.
"Yeah, too bad this look isn't common for us! Maybe I should invest in your makeup more, friend!" She rubs her purple hair at me.
"Aww, I don't think you need a lot of makeup like I do. Humans won't easily find you different!" I pity for her to look more human than I do. That means more suffering for her, too.
One room lies on the other side of this door. As I and Doorwell leave this place at once, we see the old hallway again when we were sent. The innocent me was carried here in a cage like an animal, which felt so humiliating to my class. I'm glad that no Joyling saw me there during my walk to the underground.
I thought for a moment that there would be something else we needed to do here. But it seems that we've already finished everything. The humans didn't give us one of these "evaluations" they used to. Even then, we walked out of this place wearing only our funny pyjamas, holding our name on a card near our chest as we headed further.
"Woah," I thought as I opened the last door. I do not remember how long I have walked up with Carolina and Doorwell, but we ended up at a place that was supposed to be our ticket to the way out. A party room? I thought with all those colourful chairs, tables, flairs and rainbow carpet.
"Well, what do you think?"
"It's good. I...guess..." I commented. Hard to judge as someone who judges a lot of Joylings.
"I think it needs more love." Doorwell raises her lyre for a song.
Doorwell and I immediately settled into the room like a host to the party. We were left alone, waiting for our family to come by as we may spend the rest of the time turning this place into our play space. Luckily for having Doorwell, I didn't feel much lost here.
Doorwell wasn't as agile as I was, but she often used her wings to fly when she got too close. I'm a ballet who practises my foot to be more balanced, while Doorwell practises more of her intuitive skills and perseverance. In short, I'm more of a physical queen, and Doorwell was a diligent musician.
"Doorwell! It's not fair! Stop flying!" I tried catching her foot. But she was teasing me.
"No! I'm not going to lose against you. You were so nimble that I couldn't even make a run." Doorwell was a scaredy cat, as she had always been.
"Well, maybe that's why I'm winning this game more than I do!" I joked. In the end, I got her foot and dragged her softly to the ground. I won the game fair and clear, unlike Doorwell, who played dirty and vague using her wings. Gosh, I wish I had a wing.
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Eventually, we got tired of playing cat and mouse, and we're still in this place. As Doorwell continued playing her lyre beside me, I began to feel bored from doing nothing similar to her. My mirror and makeup box could not entertain me, and I was not in the mood for a dance.
"H-hey, mom...h-hey, dad! Nice to see you! It's been six years, right?" I began practising my words for them. Whoever raised me and made me a human must have expected a lot when they heard me a Pristine Pearl. But I wonder if they were also as dazzling as I am.
"Ugh. No, no, no...too boring..."
"Mom! Dad! I'm glad to finally meet you after all these years!" I tried lighter, but it sounds too exciting for a sad reunion.
"Mom, Dad! How are you? I'm fine...! Hehe..." I tried something else, but it was too cheesy.
"What's the matter, Pearl? You didn't sound well with my lyre here." Doorwell notices my words. Her music was interrupted briefly by my unwelcoming stress. For she who expected a happy ending for the two of us, she was also concerned for me who appeared disturbed.
"Oh, it's just...I'm getting nervous with this human parents meeting."
"You wouldn't know the worse thing that may happened when you were greeting someone who never saw you for six years and find you like this. A not-so-human being."
"Don't be ridiculous, friend! I'm sure your human parents would love you as mine did. I hope."
"You're not worried your parents might forget you? Or that maybe they expect something more? I don't know what humans wanted."
"No. And I think we shouldn't be."
I thought in my wait, glaring through the glass papers on the wall as I waited for one human to tell me what and where I would shine as a human. I shine better than Doorwell here, but it was not a good thing for me because that means I have the humans anticipating more from me.
"What am I saying? Who would look at me and expect a human conversation?"
"I am not a human. Why am I surprised they know, too?"
The small but adequate lounge was filled with everything I needed to wait for. But there's nothing to appease me from the anxiety at the sight of a human. There was a crucial script I had to recite for my family. Yet only if I could read it together with my companion.
"Where are you now when I need you, Starglaze?" Pearl sat with her knees on the chair.
"Would my family accept you, too? I hope they do..."
"Because you're the only one I have now..."
Doorwell accidentally heard me saying that, and now she's getting it mistaken. She looked at me worried, as if I had insulted her again like many years ago. Her lyre stops playing, and she gets closer to me when she hears me worried. Now, my thoughts are mixed between her and Starglaze.
"W-what about me? Am I not also the one here with you?"
"Y-yes! I mean, you and Starglaze are the only ones I have now! Hehe, Doorwell...d-don't get it wrong! I will never forget about you!" I tried clearing myself. But Doorwell's face didn't change.
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[Rehabilitation Document]
Subject name: Starglaze
Subject ID: J-S-M-001-C
Age: Unknown
Height: 1′5 feet.
Weight: 6 kg (Expected)
Recovery progress: Well
Description:
J-S-M-001-C is a tiny-based Joyling with the size merely of a human and resembles a five-edged star. He was a complementary entity designed for J-P-F-001 and the closest known entity to have communicated with J-P-F-001. The subject was found together with J-P-F-001 in the vault during extraction.
J-S-M-001-C is capable of manipulating the gravity of his surroundings to increase or decrease his altitude at will. Upon doing this, J-S-M-001-C excretes a fluorescent cloud of yellow dust from his body that vanishes rapidly after contact with objects, except for glass. The speed at which J-S-M-001-C can enter is recorded around approximately 100 kilometres per hour at the highest.
However, a few analyses suggest that J-S-M-001-C ability is still on the surface of research.
Notes:
Unlike many subjects, J-S-M-001-C shows no mental impairment or emotional shift to recover. This makes J-S-M-001-C therapy unnecessary for the Institute. However, J-S-M-001-C indifference towards the environment has shown to be an unwanted obstacle for most research.
J-S-M-001-C is shown to be deviant against personnel and prefers to indulge in self-interest or J-P-F-001 interest, refusing authority or command unless requested directly from J-P-F-001. This led J-S-M-001-C to wander against protocol and execute several mishaps in the Institute.
While this may appear innocuous to the Institute or subjects, a precautionary force would be necessary in case J-S-M-001-C trigger an unwanted event. Caretaker Carolina Beth is requested to have J-S-M-001-C on monitored subduction.
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*Shrug* *Shrug* *Shrug*
"What?" She glances.
"Doorwell, did you hear that?"
What I saw was clearly not an illusion—Something was lurking through the vents above my head. Could it be rats? I didn't like the touch of such animals slipping through this beautifully set vault. Doorwell and I got too curious, and our eyes soon followed the ceiling.
CLANK! The air duct opened before my eyes, with nuts and bolts falling as something fierce broke it open. It wasn't long until something emerged through the hole, searching for a way out of the darkness and a smell of my peach fragrance inside. Yes, I used Doorwell's fragrance.
"Aah! Finally!" It yelled. It was my friend! Starglaze!
That star-shaped creature was putting trouble in my head for a long time. But now he's here! He floats out of the air duct and finds me in the waiting room with Doorwell. Perhaps it was the fragrance, but I know he was looking for me if it wasn't for the peach scent.
"Starglaze!" Me and Doorwell cheers for him. Yet he wasn't looking at us when he was wandering down.
"Hey, this isn't Funtakers Institute. Where are the Joylings? Where are the scientists? Where's the fun?" He mumbled, losing his focus again.
He has quite a confidence and pride for himself. There was no doubt from other humans that he was a valiant Joyling. He was my comfort figure, after all. But his insensibility and arrogance made him hard to befriend by anyone other than me.
"Starsy! How are you doing, friend?" Doorwell tries to greet him.
"Hey, Pearl! Where are you? What are you doing in this place? You're not supposed to be here!" Starglaze passes her like a wind.
Even Doorwell seems displeased with his presence, which reminds me of how Starglaze and I got along back then. He cared only for me, leaving Doorwell in silence before giving her a rude manner about her purple hair. He wasn't too good with any Joylings, and they didn't like him for that.
"Starglaze, where have you been? Didn't you know I've been looking for you?" I grasped his two edges tightly. My disappointment in him hasn't changed as a friend.
"What? You didn't wait for me like I told you? I told you I was feeding in the cafeteria yesterday because I don't want to waste time," He replied nonchalantly.
"You didn't tell me anything!"
"I did! Well, I was about to. Then I searched for you when I heard you're leaving! Ugh, you wouldn't leave your friend here, aren't you?"
"*Sigh* You've worried me a lot today. Don't do that again, Starglaze..." Pearl grasps him by his edges.
"Today was an important day for us. Our family is waiting for us, and who knows what would they see forward. Maybe they'll love us, or maybe they not..."
"Oh, hey...glad you're looking for us." Doorwell was sitting there with a grumpy face. Starglaze couldn't see the intention of that grump, but I could. Many have been trying to tell me to control his act, but he was too much of a star to handle! I feel bad for Doorwell to lose her smile in this moment of joy.
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We chatter through the time, waiting for Carolina to give us our parents—my parents, precisely. Starglaze doesn't have one, and I don't think we've shared the same family. Though he seems excited to welcome these humans alongside as if they would have expected a floating star for a son. Do they expect a floating star to be their son?
"What's the matter with you, Pearl? Sounds like you didn't enjoy this reunion. Won't it be good to have someone finally covering your back like Ms Carolina?"
"W-what? Of course I am! I am so happy, you can see me in jovial! Look at my smile!" I defended myself from his sudden glare.
Starglaze keeps me hanging by his question. He can read through my face that I'm uncomfortable with myself. Of course, I can't! I still have the thought of my human parents at the sight of this Pristine Pearl. I wonder if Starglaze thinks the same about these humans. We both didn't like humans, after all.
"Quit it, girl. I can read your eyebrows and it says..."
"Oh, I'm Pearl! I'm afraid of this day! Please, don't make me do this!" He taunted me.
"Also, I will give Starglaze more Poppers after this!"
"Does it really say that?" Doorwell approaches me.
"That's not true! Don't make me laugh at this hour..." I honestly replied to him.
"Aha! So you admit you weren't happy right now!" Starglaze taunts.
"What? NO! I...ugh..." She lay on the floor.
I laid my face on the floor, still troubled but less than a grunt. My eyes are fixed on the fan and its light as my chest feels tight from the struggle to breathe freely amid this tension. But even Starglaze still like to toil in that time.
"Uhm, Pearl? Are you okay, friend?" Doorwell sat beside me with her lyre still tuning to that nightly lullaby we've been making since we were here. I never thought Doorwell would be so caring and close before my friend Starglaze. But maybe it's because Starglaze was not in a happy tension. He has no idea that today, we will be looking for the sun.
"I'm okay, Doowe."
My doubts were not to let loose in Starglaze's sight. From how the starry creature sees it, I am someone he knew well from that face. So he hovered above my head to let that beautiful white lamp get replaced in my eyes with his more comforting and eye-friendly skin.
"Mind telling me what's the deal? Surely questioning a human right now won't be appropriate..." Starglaze hovers right above my face while Doorwell looks at me with a smile.
"Do you promise you won't judge me?" I ask him.
"I won't! But I think Starglaze will." Doorwell ridicule. It makes me laugh.
The party was not livid here, but at least my two friends were here to see the joy one last time before we parted ways. And by we, I mean me and Doorwell. Starglaze stays with me, and he'll be where the wind carries me as well. Where else would this little wanderer go without me?
"I didn't know what to say about my family." I replied.
Starglaze is as reckless and insensible as he always was. Now, with his hat on, he focuses on his garment more than my concern. Surely, I couldn't let him at such a moment. His brag about the hat is seemingly a call for trouble. And if he wanted trouble, then he'd get one. I'd rather not tell him that.
"Your family? Do you mean MY family? This isn't just about you, Starglaze." I gently reminded him.
"*Gasp* Pristine Pearl, watch who you are talking to." He contends at me, right after I thought he was ignoring me.
"Don't you know that we're in this together?"
"Oh, so now you're listening to me..."
I have to make a lesson for him. I gave a little push on his little hat, and suddenly he cared about me. Doorwell watched as I chuckled at the thought of pranking this little man and ruining his already perfect dress code.
"Aww, Pearl. You don't have to do that." Doorwell argues.
"No, he deserves it. I know you agree with me, Dowee!" I replied, assuring her that I was not letting Starglaze get away with this.
"Noo! You're ruining my already good hat! Now I can't go out to the family like this!" Starglaze's eyes extend as he angers. Still more stubborn than Fuss.
"You're ruining my moment, too! Have some of my anger on that."
"Oh, Pearl!" He latched onto her face.
"Pearl!" Doorwell reaches out for me.
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[Institute Entrance]
I know nothing of what happened outside. But somewhere, I can feel my human parents rushing to me, waiting for a woman named Carolina to guide them and asking who this Pristine Pearl they were looking for. And I imagine Carolina was busy with them too, preparing everything for me and Doorwell before we left this place. But I wonder what.
"Ms. Beth. The family's here."
"Oh, who's family? And why do we have a family here?"
"Ugh..." The man slaps his face.
"What? Am I missing something?"
What would my family look like? Do they adore stars like I do? Do they look like a Joyling? I believe they wouldn't be too ordinary for me. If I was one of the known Joyling here, I would've been more than just a human out there. I just know that. I can feel it.
"Excuse me. Are you Carolina Beth? We got your call two days ago,"
"Oh, that family. I mean, Yes, yes...uhm, I anticipate your arrival shortly. I hope you don't mind if the security outside bothers you."
"Ehem...I'm glad to see you here, Mrs. Valentine." Her colleague rolls his eyes.
"Hey! Hey! Give a pass! Give a pass for Starstuhm here! This lady didn't go around with this dress for nothing!"
"Where's my daughter!? Where is she?"
"Oh, well. Back to the business...am I right or am I right?"