[Home?]
A home lies not far from Pearl's sight. A night comes swiftly into the sky, but no longer was she watching from the window. It was her house, a large one as well. It can fit several people and perhaps an entire Joylings family.
"So, how's the view of our house, sister?" Tina pokes her waist.
"It looks...dazzling." Pearl's eyes shimmer as her pupil turns into a four-edged star.
"Meh, need more stardust on the walls. Can't ever say a home without a piece of stardust!" Starglaze slanged.
"You'll be surprised to see who's waiting inside for you." The man passes by carrying Pearl's luggage.
"T-there's more...?" Pearl looks at her father.
Pearl is always wearing her ballet attire. The magenta suit with a pink skirt and a back bow, finished with long white gloves and socks, has always been her notable attire. But as years pass and her age numbers up, so does the need for style to change. It was for the better that she had something to cover up the iconic style from taking another spotlight.
"Wow, you look way better in that leather. Almost like a human girl to me..." Vicky teases.
"Sure you don't want to take off that ballet dress? We've had a better option in the house." Belle pokes her bow.
"No...this ballet dress is me. I can't unwear myself."
"Yeah, that's like saying you want me to get off my hat! My precious hat! Nobody took Starglaze's hat off! Hm!" He swings around.
"That star friend of yours sure has a bigger head than you. Hahaha..." Tina jokes.
The ballet suit is covered with a pale blue cardigan, worn everyday in the Institute as a patient. But for once, she wears a shoe to cover her socks from the mud when walking on the ground—A shoe like a human, not made for dancing, but it is still classy as her style.
"Hey, Pearl. Can you check over the house for us? We have something to show for you!" She said.
"Oh, okay...!" She rushes.
"Ooh, is that for me, too?"
What Pearl sees through the open door is the darkness surrounding the room. No lights, no sounds, not even a move from the wind to break the silence. But darkness has never been her enemy nor her fear, as its void draws comfort for her ever-shimmering presence.
"Huh...I didn't know my house was this dark." Pearl stands in the doorway while her families are still outside.
"Gee, I guess I know where that dark-seeking need of yours come from. But I won't mind some lights here!"
*Click*Someone turns off the switch.
And there, something that Pearl didn't expect from the darkness. A flash of light burst through her eyes and nearly blinded her. Pearl didn't expect the room to be so bright, precisely as enormous as the Institute she was once.
"SURPRISE!! Welcome back, Christine!"
"And Pearl...!" A boy uttered.
With a flick of a switch, the room turns bright, revealing dozens of people waiting for Pearl by the entrance with balloons and a carton hat resembling her face as they clapped for her arrival back home. But Pearl couldn't say the same with all that surprise and...you guessed it...spotlight.
"Ah!!" Pearl shocked herself into a paralyzing stand. Her eyes twitch, and her hands tremble.
"Surprise?? I mean...y-yeah?" She snaps to her senses.
"Woah...that's a lot of family we have, Pearl..." Starglaze stood in awe.
More than a dozen people are waiting with their hats and feelings up for Pearl on their chairs. Their eyes were in disbelief when they saw her, but hearing the voice of a girl named Christine inside that pearly skin was enough to prove her right there.
It was a huge home, two floors with a stair near the entrance. Perhaps it was the number of people inside, but the decors were over the chart, and everything was always followed with red curtains and spotlights.
"C-Christine...is that...is that really you...?" A youngling looked at her with such a shock.
"That voice...that is really her voice..." An uncle falls down his knee.
"What...kind of...miracle is this...? What magic did they...use onto you, Christine...?" The grandfather's fingers tremble for a reach towards Pearl's face in his rocking chair. His voice is wailing in disbelief and mortified at the sight of her.
"Is this...is this really...C-Christine...?" The aunt shed a tear.
"What did they do to you, dear? How could they *sob* I can't...!"
The second aunt left.
"Aw, come on, Barbara! I'm 95 and I haven't even got my heart attack yet! Get back here like a family!" The grandfather said.
All that grief and sadness felt shallow in her absence as a human, but Pearl could see through their tears that it was a happy tear surging from the truth. They thought it was impossible, absurd and even a fraud. But she was there, standing like no other human would ever be. For them, it was like seeing her apparition.
"H-hi, family! Nice to meet you! I'm Pearl, and I—I mean, I'm Christine...! That's my name...!" She stutters.
"And I'm Starglaze! Pearl's personal friend!" He swings around her head with his dust.
"Huh?" Her eyes perched onto something.
But for Pearl, it's like meeting another human. It doesn't feel warm or remembering to her because the colour is uncouth. But the table beside her reveals something more for her. A trace of Christine lies with a few lit candles and one picture of a girl with brown hair like the five sisters she has.
"Is that...me? That's for me, right?" She grabs the picture.
"Yes! Yes, it is! It's you, Christine!" The aunt shed her tears and helped her.
"You remember...right?"
"Y-yeah! I do! I'm Christine! The girl in the photo!" She puts up. But the woman's face turned slowly frowned.
All her family members gathered as they witnessed her memorial right next to the soul itself. There were ballet shoes similar to Pearl's, with a white button differing from the yellow one on hers being set as the sole object of her name. Seeing it still fresh made her want to grab it to feel if it was similar.
"I know God heard my prayer five years ago! I know you're alive all this time! He gave that to you!" The third aunt praises.
"Did he? Where was he when I was asking for an additional role for star track with Beat?" Starglaze zooms into the aunt's face.
"Woah, she even bring home a magical pet."
"Pet?? I'm not anyone's pet! I'm Pearl's friend!"
The home is comforting, and her other family now just joined with her suitcases. There would be so much for her to pack onto the house and history to unveil from the curtains. But from the start, Pearl had already found comfort with the view.
"Woah, looks like you pack a lot for someone who's new to this, Christine." The mother dragged her suitcase.
"The magic of performer shine upon you, sister!" Tina mumbled.
"You were the one shining above all of us! Not even the great Tommy's comedy was as engaging as you!"
"Who's Tommy, because I want to mock him now just to hear that." Starglaze taunts.
"Haha! I like that creature! Pearl, you and your little friend would be so much fun here!" Belle passes in.
"I'm not a creature!" He grunts.
Her bedroom lies upstairs, reminding her of the Institute's dorm when she was rehabilitated. She traverses with the sight of a hallway, a window beside, and a few rooms of her sisters on the third floor. The door of her room stands in a decaying birch wood, with a few stains at the gap under.
When she opens the door, she finds the room nothing like hers. Too many boxes in her room, and there's no table, bed or even something resembling comfort. The windows are shut, and the wallpaper is melting. Even a few clothes are hanging on a rack, which is too big for her age.
"Wow, humans enjoyed this? I changed my mind, leaving the Institute is a horrible choice!" Starglaze floats away.
"Uhm, mom? Is this really my room...?" Pearl looked at her with a confused stare.
The mom peeked her head into the door, "What the...? Barbara!! Didn't I tell you to clean this room before Christine arrived??"
*Faint* "Well, I told you I'm not going to if you can't prove Christine is alive! You think I'm here to clean your clothes?"
"Ugh, for the love of God. I'm sorry, Christine...it seems that we didn't prepare much for your room..." The mother pats her head.
"Maybe you should stay in one of your sister's rooms while I clean this place for you?" The mother steps into the room.
"Hmm...okay..." She was nervous as she sees her sisters waiting by the door with a smile.
[3 hours later]
It was over, the room was as clean as new. Well, a few stenches still exist on the floor and walls, but it was better to see than be around boxes anymore. The sisters join, the cousins follow, and the adults trail when they see the magic coming from her hand. The magic was shimmering on Pearl's hand like a witch making.
"We couldn't help much but to give this room a rest in your departure. A lot of your posters rust quickly without a care, and your clothes were now your sisters'. Your bed? We had no choice but to share them for your cousins..." The mother shares.
"Hey, we couldn't have your room waiting for you six years, right? Unless you don't sleep, obviously...!" The boy said.
"Yeah, I see..."
As the hour passed, the room turned from an abandoned space into a living fragment of a lost past. A small bed was raised from the underground to her room with a table and wardrobe aside. Though the mother felt that it wasn't like the old times when Pearl was a human. Yet it was worth a sleeping room, for who knows how long Pearl could attach herself to her new life.
"Huh, it looks smaller than I remembered. Maybe my eyesight was weakening..." The father said.
"Maybe you should've stayed out of the TV Berrett. It ruins your eyes," The grandfather said.
"Oh, come on, dad. It's not that serious..."
"Well, I must say, Pearl...this bed is way much better than the one we've had in the Institute. But where would I lay off my dust now? Surely I can't float all night!" Starglaze swings around swiftly and impatiently.
"Well, little one. You wouldn't think we forget that little berating voice of yours, do you?"
A small bed for Starglaze is hanging beside Pearl's like a birdcage.
"Hmm...not bad. Anything but another large bed, I guess..." Starglaze bitters.
"Alright. It's up to you to finish the rest, Pearl." The mother taps her shoulders.
"Be sure to check down, okay? We want to know a lot about your experience on the table. You're the guest, after all..."
"Alright. I'll be swift..." She mumbled hesitantly.
All the family members left her in her room and thought.
The only thing that remained was for Pearl to decide what would be on the wall. There are things she wanted to put shimmering on that grey view of a room. It lacks stars, colours, and even life. But she has all three in only a bag. And also in a suitcase.
"*Sigh* That was a long day..."
"Wow, they didn't even fix the lighting yet! How can someone ."
"It's okay, Starglaze. I'm not even afraid of darkness...and I think we should have fewer lights here..."
"Are you sure? A pretty face like you shouldn't be in the dark all day."
"I'm pure pristine in my words, Starglaze. There's already more than enough spotlights for me today..." She sets her suitcase open.
There are wonders her family hasn't yet to see. She has one clam lying inside, posters of her showtimes, a few bundles of wonders, and many more. But she has so much in her mind to enjoy decorating with wonders. There are so many thoughts about her family she has to process as an unknowing Joyling.
"But now I'm about to have more than what I fear," She lay on her clam-like flatbed before closing it in for a vigorous shake.
"I'm in a family of performers. A family of performers! What do I do...? Huhuhu..."
"Well, that doesn't sound bad to me. We're a performer, too." Starglaze laid on his new bed.
She opens her clam, "Are you kidding? I don't want to be a performer! All those spotlights and stages are too scary for me!"
"What if they want me to perform my ballet on the stage again? What if I was nailed onto that wooden floor once more? What if they don't like my ballet skills? Would they put me into a dark room like Mr. Chrome did to me? They wouldn't do that, right?" She panicked.
"I don't want to be a stage figure or a Frowling! I'm scared!"
"Why do I have to be a family of performer? Huhuhu...just bring me back to Ms. Carolina..."
"Huhuhu..."
Starglaze descends from his bed, consoling the fearful Pearl with her thoughts as usual. Even in the darkest hour, he was the one Pearl always trusted before anyone. His voice is livid, filling the void and emptiness of will within Pearl with a reason of his. If one thing he would take more than his shimmering handsomeness, it would be his ever-long best friend.
"Hey, girl. Nobody's going to be a stage figure or a Frowling here. It's not like they could even do anything as horrifying as Mr. Chrome..."
"R-really? But humans seems to do it easy to me."
"Definitely, certain, and pure pristine, my friend! If these people really are that cruel as that twisted Chrome, we would've been put on that red curtain near the window first..."
"Remember what Chrome used to say to our ears every day?"
"That lights are where our true self shines? That we are nothing in our own thoughts without it? Carolina said it's a bad thing somewhat."
"Really? I thought he said we shouldn't have dinner past 7...or I guess that's one of his scientist friends. But notice how we've never that before? That's because humans don't reflect that kind of attitude, shimmer."
"Oh, yeah...that sounds true...maybe I shouldn't be too doubftful with this!"
"Haha! Haha..." Her laughs turns into a jittery and unpleasant one.
And thus, mark the end of the Joyling horror and the beginning of Pearl's new life.