Knock! Knock! Knock! The door knocks harder, and it seems the guests are growing impatient.
"Zzz...mhm...?" Daniel opens his eyes for a peek. From the carriage's front seat, they see a woman standing by the door, holding her purse tightly as she fiercely taps the door of Starstuhm's house.
"Adele...Adele...wake up! Wake up!" The man yelled.
"Hmm...? What is it?" Adele blinks.
"Someone's here. There's a woman on the door."
"Shit...did she sees us?" Adele reached for the steer, but Daniel stopped her.
"Not sure. But she seems to be looking for the Starstuhm."
Knock! Knock! Knock! Pearl can hear that knock from the upper floor,
"Uh...? Wha...? Who...?" Starglaze awakens at a basket of clothes with a face so disturbed from his sleep. His eyes are not seeing well from that wake, and he looks even crumpled than Pearl's clothes.
"Starglaze..." Pearl mumbled.
"Quick, you two! Hide somewhere now!"
"Okay! Come on, Starsy..." Pearl grabs him.
"What...hiding...from who...where am I...?" Starglaze is dazed. He couldn't even fly properly.
The two hide in a wardrobe, as the human mother commands. The guest downstairs was surprised, considering how lonely this mansion is for everyone. However, the two Joylings cannot let themselves be known to humans yet, so they have to remain quiet until it is over.
Knock! Knock! Knock! The woman knocks harder, and the echo of that knock becomes unbearable for everyone within the house. However, it didn't take long for the human father to open them, during which the woman's face already looked pressed and annoyed like Starglaze.
"About bloody time! Thought you'd gone off to disappoint some other poor lads inside! Oh, right...you're a loner." The woman complained.
"It's 6.30 in the morning. What else would take me long?" David scowled in disgust.
"Maybe next time you skedaddle off, David, try not be a night hawk, eh?"
"Why are you here, Barbara?"
"Had me peepers on this place, reckon I oughta fetch pop's old shooter he gave ya—back when you're a backbone and not a tailbone. The old geezer reckons he could handle one more turn in Duskram, unlike his muppet son puffin on a fag like it's his last meal. Got nuffin rattlin' in that noggin o' yours today, have ya?"
"*Inhale smoke* Come in...glad I don't grow in Northern Britannia." David said.
The woman's tone toward the father was so mean. She seems to bear resentment just by looking at his face, and the human father could only accept it like a fearful Joyling. Although his face says that he isn't bothered by anything but annoyance.
"That old man still wants to go out in the wild? Even in that age?" David goes into his mansion to search for the rifle.
"Yes, hand the rifle immediately, I'll be sure your home stays boggin'..."
"What's with the painting? Got another one bairn on the bed?"
"Acetone..." The human mother appeared from the side of the door with the same contempt for the woman. She didn't change the woman's face even if she was standing calmly with her arms crossed.
"Looks like I woke the trouble early...apology..." Barbara bows. Yet the honour was a playful joke.
"No need. Your leave would be forgiven." Donna replies, fighting back at her words.
The woman picked her seat in the mansion like another human, despite the two humans being unwilling to give her a seat. She took her tea without being asked and grabbed a biscuit without being offered. Yet nobody stops her from doing so. The humans remained quiet as if they were serving a queen.
"I'll go make a snack here...maybe some raw, crushed eggs..." She prepares a bowl.
"For a pair of lovebirds, you're making a fair go of it—considering you started off as gutter-born from Norwich. Might've fancied you meself... if it weren't for me daft brother, that is. " Barbara enjoys her cup of tea.
"I daresay, conversations of this nature do have a knack for unsettling the more delicate-minded. Fetch your firearm if you must—I'll see myself out with all the haste of a passing breeze, should my presence offend."
"You think we didn't know...?" Donna gritted with her hands clenching an egg. Both of her hands are trying to crush a treat.
"Now that I think of it. I've often felt drawn—perhaps unwisely so—into this wretched affair between you and your husband. A most unfortunate entanglement, I must say."
"What?" Donna cracks.
"Oh, forgive me—I misspoke. By 'affair', I meant the matter of your children, not... well, the two of you. Heaven knows, neither of you would stoop to infidelity. Alas, parenting is quite another shortcoming, isn't it?"
Meanwhile, Pearl and Starglaze are still waiting by the wardrobe in their room. There's no telling whether they could leave yet, but the space is starting to eat them from within. Pearl still adores her dress for its beauty, while Starglaze think about going out.
"How long do we have to wait...? I need to go out and sharpen my edge..." Starglaze complains.
"Well, we can wait until mother says we can."
"I didn't hear anything. How do you know we're being visited?"
"Because mother said so, and we shouldn't defy her. By the way, what do you think of my new blouse? Does it look better than that stupid blue?"
"I want to find out myself," Starglaze leaves the wardrobe. His ambitious glare is going downstairs.
"Starglaze, wait! Can't you at least rate my dress first?" Pearl follows.
They left the wardrobe against their mother's wishes, slowly descending, curious about the sound below. The Star could attend the human mother speaking, joined by a woman whose boldness bordered on insult, while Pearl heard a voice so rude and cold it seemed heartless, even for a human.
"Always thought poor Christine lays a wrong puff on this house..." Someone mumbled downstairs.
"Did you hear that? Someone just call...that name..." Pearl froze.
"They sound like someone I like..." Starglaze praises.
They peeked through the stairs, watching two shadows from the living room, one being no human they knew. The two descend slowly to the stairs, getting a clear view of that woman sitting on the couch with the human mother in a menacing stance. She was taking the treat so disrespectfully.
"Who's that? She's rude..." Pearl peeked through the doorframe with Starglaze.
"Probably another mom of us? Do we even have more than one?"
"I don't think so. That woman can't be a mother with that tone. But now I wanted to know..."
They listen to the chatter between the woman and the human mother. The two don't seem to have a good bond, as the human mother doesn't smile at the woman despite her harmless stance. The woman keeps talking, while the human mother stays on the couch, gripping the egg to dust and yolk with her ears open.
"How long since I last uttered her name? Two months, perhaps—though time has a way of slipping unnoticed." She sips her tea tauntingly.
"And yet… with each passing day of her absence, I cannot help but ponder—what, truly, became of her mother?"
"*Sigh* get my daughter's name out of your mouth." Donna glanced menacingly.
"Why not? She faded out of you now, dear?"
"See the picture, lady? It's still lit with candles..."
The mother shows the woman her wardrobe, where a picture of a young girl sits with lit candles. That girl is supposed to be who Pearl was before, and she looks more human yet messy. She didn't look so well, and she didn't even smile in the picture.
"Is that me?"
"Woah, girl. Looks like you've got your life ahead of you..." Starglaze comments.
"Glad you're not a human anymore."
"Is that a compliment?" Pearl scowled at Starglaze.
Yet the woman is still dissatisfied with her answer, even going as far as being too mean for her pity. She didn't like the human mother's words, which were all frown and glum for the girl she had lost many years ago. Instead, she made it seem that the human mother must feel guilty even more.
"And what of the grave? The mass? That fleeting moment in the light Christine once possessed? Have you, even once, borne the weight of sorrow—or merely worn the face of it?" Barbara puts her tea down.
"S-spotlight...?" Pearl sweats.
"Do you not see? A mother such as yourself has faltered gravely. You let your daughter slip away, and your finest act of remembrance... is a portrait gathering dust?"
"Take heed, if you will. My children do not stray—they are reared with vigilance and love, to grow in my image, and not be lost to shadows or folly."
The woman seems to be angry with the human mother for losing her human daughter. They kept talking about Christine for a long time, while Pearl and Starglaze could only hear from the other side.
Crack! The egg tears into the bowl, ready to serve as a treat..
"Have you no rebuttal? No spirited defence? I had rather thought you'd be eager to prove me mistaken." Barbara teases.
"Does it look like I could? You seemed to enjoy hurting us more than you care for my daughter," The mother glanced at the remnants of yolks on her hand.
Barbara sighed and looked away. "You've outdone yourself, Donna. I could only hope that you and David are happy with that choice."
"You and my brother removed yourselves from the world, cloistered by your grief and silence. Six years passed, and between the two of you, scarcely a word. In truth, you have all but vanished from memory."
"You left the stage—your stage—only to take up residence in despair, as though such misery were your final role. Must you let it define you? Strike it from the script and live again."
"We of the Starstuhm line have scarcely heard your name spoken in years. As for David—he's become a stranger, and this house? Untouched, unchanged, until now. That is no commendation, I assure you."
"Perhaps you've forgotten, but a Starstuhm who forsakes their role—be it on stage or in life—is marked forever by failure. Much like the day you let her walk alone into that studio... and never return."
"Enough!" Donna slams the table.
The more Pearl listens, the more she learns about Starstuhm. She wasn't in a fortunate family, but in a troubled one. Their grief for her was not just a shock, but years of suffering, just like hers. They were as scared of other humans like her, trying to live forever in silence, when they lost her years ago.
"Wow, human fighting is not on my morning list." Starglaze stares in amazement.
"F-failure...? Am I...a failure?" Pearl glances at her gloves with fear.
"Who's she? How did he know about my family...?"
Before Pearl could learn more about the confrontation with the two humans, the father appeared out of nowhere, holding a gun in the room to Pearl's surprise. She had never seen that weapon, yet she knew it wasn't a toy to play with. The human father was about to hand this dangerous thing to the woman.
"Is that a gun? Did they have one here?" Starglaze commented.
"Here's the rifle. I haven't let anything touch it yet, so you know it still works." David offered to Barbara. A weapon of some sort.
"I must say, I'm rather astonished it hasn't been carted off to market or reduced to scrap by now. Remarkable—responsibility suits you. Pity it seems to be such a rare occasion." Barbara keeps taunting them even after such kindness from David's words.
"Can't you just leave us alone now? This is early in the morning and we still have a lot to do here!" Donna scold.
"Well, I shall leave you both to your little moon of affection. I had rather hoped for a final glimpse of the upper floor—unless, of course, your daughter has miraculously risen to show it to me herself." Barbara slanders.
The woman didn't waste any time staying for another talk, prompting her to leave this house with her chin raised in contempt. She left the room without eating the human mother's treat and left her cup still filled with tea. Pearl and Starglaze quickly hide before the woman can find them within the hallway, and they are good hiders.
"Got any 3 spade?" Daniel and Adele play cards on the carriage.
"Just one..." Adele draws.
"Aha! Whitejack! How's that in your face?" The man drops his deck in victory.
"Oh shit! She's back! Duck...!" Adele drags him down.
"Bye-bye! You—huh?" The woman stops moving. Her eyes are pointed to the second carriage on the mansion bearing the white paint from the Institute's doctors. Her suspicion rises as she approaches that cart slowly for a checkup, tempting the humans inside to duck and hide.
"Ugh, I told those people not to park there..." Donna mumbled.
"A fine carriage, truly. Indulging in a second, are we? Well—wealth does have a way of breeding... appetites." Barbara utters in a taunting tone.
"We just...want to have a spare carriage because the first one is broken..." David reasons, eyes grow nervous, and fingers poking on one another.
At first, the woman didn't seem to find anything. However, it doesn't mean her eyes wouldn't stop looking at the white wheel. Something about its design makes her curious, like how Pearl adores herself in the mirror for the glossy face she has.
"Come on, come on...get away from here..." Daniel whispers.
"What kind of carriage brand do you have here? It looks old, but it has some class..." She rubs the door.
"C-Carrio—Audi-Carrio." The father sweats.
"No wonder. At least that's a class for mountain railway..." Barbara taunts. Her words are all jokes and insults to humans.
"Sounds like a big boot got a hold on your gold when you least expect it. What a twist, eh? Wanna ride this scrap off the house like a king, too?"
"Oh, that bitch..." Adele whispers.
The woman didn't look any more suspicious and headed to her carriage to leave without a goodbye. Everyone was relieved, watching the rude woman pass through the railway without looking back. She was as rude as she is leaving them. She disappears into the fog, yet her meanness lingers in this mansion like a vapour, degrading the humans' name.
"Oh, for goodness sake...that lady annoys me!" Donna grasps her face.
"It's alright. She's no longer here...and we can wait for another day where she'll come and go again...like a cycle..." David calms.
"But I hate that woman! Always come here just to talk crap about Christine and our lives. Why can't they just leave us alone?" Donna was furious.
"Are they gone, mother? Can we come out now?" Pearl yelled from afar.
"Yes, dear. The wicked lady hurts us no more..." The mother consoles with a smile.
Her human parents aren't happy with what they have heard, and neither is Pearl. The rude woman talks a lot about her as if she were a mistake for them. Even if the rude woman didn't know a lot about Pearl yet, she seems to have already found a bad thing to tell.
"Wicked? Is she evil?" Pearl walks out to the doorway.
"Yes," Donna replies without any hesitation.
"N-no, she's just had a few mean words. But she's not evil!" David excuses.
As she walked out of that mansion and to the golden gate, seeing only a morning fog clouding the railway, she wondered if the rude woman would come back, more about the name Christine and tell her about Starstuhm. Now she wonders if she is really a Starstuhm, or a double stunt for someone named Christine.
"She said we're a failure. Are we...a failure?" Pearl was more concerned with the rude woman.
"No, no! She's just bluffing. That Starstuhm quote was a bluff to scare us into thinking we are one. We are not. We're no failure..." David replies nervously.
"She's right. But who cares? Christine, that woman knows only to hurt us because she has no one to care of." Donna intervened.
"Don't let her make you believe you are nothing. When she says we're a failure, she would've meant to herself more than us."
"I don't understand..." Pearl glares, confused and disbelieving.
"I know it's confusing for you. But she didn't mean anything about her words. It's entirely our fault to let you hear that, Christy. She's your aunt, she wouldn't hurt her family..."
"Are you sure? You look unwell, hearing her. Does she—"
"Yes, we are fine, Christine! Nothing's wrong with us. We can assure you that she didn't mean it! Don't listen to her or you'll be an actual failure! We're not failure, so don't be one, okay?" David yelled interruptively. His tone rises with discomfort as Pearl keeps raising a question.
"David!" Donna yelled.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry..." Pearl apologised as quick as she could.
Something changed in the humans when they met with the rude woman. It was as if she was casting a spell on their minds to be hateful. Pearl could only wait for the humans to calm down, just to be saddened in their shadowy shame in the mansion.
"N-no, it's fine! We're not mad! We're...annoyed." David yelled again. He was disappointed with her. His tone was risen for her being too comfortable.
"Oh, I get it. I...get it! I'm just asking, father!" Pearl defends. Their fits of anger toward her start to brew even further, and she knows she cannot let them blow like Fuss.
"Pearl, don't take it deep. We don't want you to misunderstand! That's all..." Donna threatens her.
"Y-yeah, I do..." She replies calmly.
A long silence stands between them as both of their eyes grew ever distant from that moment. Though not severe, these fits of rage were the first Pearl had ever seen from the humans. They do get angry a lot—angry at her.