"Thank you, Ms Starstuhm. I couldn't imagine myself crying again in this place after everything I have been through." Lisa commented at the door.
Alas, the human girl is going to leave this place! She was on the front door of the mansion and on the verge of her journey. Pearl and Starglaze gets to see this by the stairway as their VIP seat. The human girl is quite an interest and a trouble.
"You'll do this again next week. It's not a big deal. Soon enough, maybe that prayer can go real..." Donna jokes.
"Donna...shh..." David whispers.
The girl frowned, watching the moment she left the door, saddened and disappointed. The human had taken half a day from her with that boring party. Her basket holds less now, with a gift on the bowl for Pearl in return. What an offering, but not enough.
"Come on, come on...just go..." Pearl whispers.
"You really want her to go? She was fun." Starglaze mumbled.
"No, she's not. And she better not be back for tomorrow. I've had enough of you and her here..."
"Treating your best friend like that, huh? I guess I get where those annoying faces come from, Christine..." Starglaze teases with her deadname.
"I'll be sure to note you for the next Wednesday at—nine?" She pauses.
From a distance, glimmers of Pearl's head are reflected by the sunlight. Her face may be veiled in darkness, but her gloss does not.
A reckless Pearl got herself in trouble again, which she had always believed was coming from Starglaze. But the saddened human girl immediately found it so easy to see her before Starglaze. Such a disappointment.
"What's that? What is that thing on the stairway?"
"W-what? Where? I didn't see a thing?" Donna
"Pearl, I think she's looking at us..." Starglaze whispers.
"Eek!" Pearl retreats.
Now she has to retreat into the darkness, rushing where she could lose the human girl's sight. However, the human girl was a fierce runner, just like Pearl.
The human girl makes a run up the second floor, following the shadow into the stairway despite the humans' prohibition. The action is rising, tension boils, and the climax reaches at the room that appears old and junky, where Pearl was sleeping before.
"Lisa, don't! This is not for—" David rushes. But it was too late.
"Is that a bed? Why's there a bed here on Christine's room?" Lisa mumbled in concern.
"It's...Christine's old room we haven't cleaned yet. We just haven't cleaned all her belongings because we didn't want her to go out. Christine's room deserves to remain as it is."
The humans tried reasoning, but there's too much for her to ignore. Pearl's makeup box and mirror are still on the table, and she left her book on page twenty-six. These are not belongings that would've been left by a dead girl. The human girl grew even more suspicious.
"This isn't Christine's makeup box, nor she has a mirror like this. Who's this belongs to?" Lisa interrogates. Her fingers examine the mirror's handle, like Graham catching his clue.
"It's...my niece's belonging! She was staying here last night!"
"You have a niece here? Where's she?" Lisa looks around.
The human reasons again, but nothing else works anymore. The human girl's suspicion is rising, and it is unclear how long she has known Pearl was here. Perhaps as long as she didn't look up, the two would've been safe.
*Gasp* Donna gasped at Pearl's sight on the ceiling, floating with Starglaze.
"Shh..." Pearl signals them.
"No. All of these things are made by Joylingers.co! That's the factory where Christine was gone!" Lisa defies.
It's difficult to keep herself steady and sticky on the ceiling with only a star to help you climb. The strength that Starglaze could do slowly weakens as each second they descend slowly like a moon. Pearl could not help herself either, for her weight only makes Starglaze hurt them both.
"Starglaze...hold me...!" She whispers.
"I'm trying...! But the altitude...too much..." He teeters.
The human girl cannot be lied to anymore. She knew Pearl was here, but she hadn't found her yet. The humans could only stall for enough time in hopes of luring her out before Pearl and Starglaze could fall.
"What's happening here, Ms Starstuhm? Is...is there anything you didn't tell me."
"Why are you keeping going off with me today? You never did this to me before! Am I doing something wrong?"
She keeps inspecting the place until she finds more and more of Pearl's presence throughout the room—pinkish paints, wrinkled dresses, and her gloves and boots on the floor. Though she hasn't yet looked up, Pearl and Starglaze are soon going even lower.
"Pearl...I can't hold it...I had to..." Starglaze's face went in pain.
"I know you're lying! You wouldn't be able to have all of this before! I've seen this room two weeks ago. No one's here for years! What did you do?" Lisa berates.
Suddenly, something dripped. Pearl was too tired holding on to Starglaze, and she began to sweat from her fishy ears. Her fishy ears drain such a stream, as one drip rose from her skin and rolled down the edge of her ear.
"No, no, no..." Pearl begs the water on her ears to not drip down.
"Why are you not answering me? What's wrong?" She grew more irritated.
"Why are you ignoring me?? Answer me! Is she here...?? Is Christine here?!" She yelled.
Drop! The blue pristine water leaked one droplet from her ear, right where the human girls are standing, while holding her mirror. Luckily, that drop didn't fall on her hair or shoulder. Unfortunately, it falls on her mirror.
Everyone was silenced, including the human girl. The blue leak on the mirror rolls down to her fingers. The human girl saw from the mirror—its reflection—a face she had never seen before. It was right above her head.
"What the..." She glanced up.
Two eyes met, and it was inevitable. Pearl and the human girl froze together, with their eyes locked, as far as Pearl remained silent. She tries staying still on the ceiling, pretending she is just the ceiling. But Starglaze was too burdened to hold them both.
"I can't hold it anymore! Aagh!"
"Aah!!" The two screamed.
She fell into her, literally. Pearl and Starglaze fell into the human girl before she could even react to them. Her mirror rolls out of her grasp, as Pearl lies above the human with a surprise. The humans can only stay silent because they have nothing else.
"Psst, let's leave..." David mumbled.
"What about Pearl?"
"She can handle it herself, Donny. Now let's go...!" David pushes her. They left the scene without a word and closed the door. Pearl and Starglaze were to be met with this human girl alone, without help. How pitiful, and how kind of them.
———————————————————————————————————————————
"Uhm...huh?" Lisa opens her eyes. The sight of Pearl lying on her is still evident.
"Aah!!!!" She yelled.
The human girl and the two Joylings cornered each other. The human girl's face is more cautious than ever, but full of fear, as Pearl does to her. None of them could comprehend what to do, and Pearl could only hold her face tighter than ever.
"W-what are you?... Who are you...?" Lisa screams. She begged the parents to help her, but they didn't answer. They were not on her side.
"Uhm, Pearl? Should I say something?" Starglaze is lying on the floor.
The human girl is shocked to hear Starglaze speaking. Her face thought of him as a decoration, but he got to break that thought from her. She is trying to understand what happened, but Pearl couldn't risk exposing herself to her. So she chose to keep her mouth shut.
"You're not human...oh, god...what are you...Are you a monster...?" The human girl grabs an incense candle as a weapon. But Pearl didn't want to hurt her either.
"Don't come closer! Don't even think of...hurting me!"
The trust with the human parents had grown ever thinner, and now she wanted nothing but the reveal behind her hands. Pearl couldn't let her know that face, nor her voice. Otherwise, she would recognize immediately. But how can she escape from this?
"Why are you not talking? Say something! Who are you?" Lisa continues commenting on Pearl. Her body starts moving close to the door.
"Your dress...your head...you look familiar. I...recognize this style before...I just don't know where."
Weird! The human girl said she knew her, but now she barely remembered her. If she truly was her friend, she would've recognized Pristine Pearl immediately from the face and the pearls. Now she was trying to get closer to prove if she was true.
"D-do you understand me...? Are you...scared?"
She was trying to stay far from her, trying to let the human girl leave before she made trouble. She even tried to hide behind a wardrobe, leaving Starglaze, who was lying tired. The human girl calms, dropping her incense on the floor for peace, only to approach her from a distance.
"I don't understand. This day was so strange...why did this happen? What am I going onto?"
"I only came here to mourn my friend Christine...and then I found you here..."
"Did those humans kept you? Did they kidnap a child because they lost Christine? Is that why they were so happy?"
The human girl mistook her silence for weakness. She was trying to get close to her face; she would've hurt her! Each time Pearl tried to get further from her, she was just getting closer to her. She didn't even look happy for someone who misses her friends.
"I know it! They must have been keeping you alive here!"
This is getting too much for Pearl; she wishes she could have done something about it. But she was powerless, and she had no one to save herself. Why did the humans leave them with this human girl? Do they want her to suffer alone?
"Pearl, your mirror crack," Starglaze commented.
Her mirror cracked. Cracked right when she knew that humans would've damaged it. It is unacceptable for Pearl—she has to do something about it. Her hands are open as she reveals her face before the human girl, realizing what has been done.
"What? Crack??" Pearl jumped out of the wardrobe, pushing the human girl away and grabbed her mirror quickly. Starglaze was right! There was a crack on the glass as sharp as a needle, setting the view blurry and ugly for Pearl to look at. This mirror was almost useless to her, if it weren't the only one she had now.
"No! No, no, no!! Augh, I just had this mirror two days ago!"
What a bad day, Pearl couldn't even keep anything safe here! First her makeup box, and now her mirror? She was devastated, and there's no one but her to be disappointed more. The human girl is now her enemy, and she must pay for this.
The human girl fell silent, her eyes widening as if she were seeing something beyond Pearl's mirror. Pearl grew frustrated—her human opponent refused to yield. The girl stood frozen, managing to mumble only a few words.
"Y-your voice...you..." Lisa mumbled. Her hands were wrapped around her mouth as tears flowed again from her eyes. For a moment, it looked like she was crying because Pearl was breaking her heart.
"Pearl, I don't think you're supposed to speak to her..." Starglaze lectures.
Pearl was frozen in fear. She didn't realize how messed up she had put herself into. Not only was she a bad hider, but she was also a poor spiller. Her secret immediately caught the human girl's eyes, and she was crying with joy when she heard the voice of a human she had been mourning for a long time.
"Christine...? Is that you...?" She mumbled.
"I...don't know what you're talking about!" Pearl excuses. But it only makes things worse.
"You're alive? You're alive!!" She cries harder. Her hands are wrapped around Pearl's back, and Pearl couldn't push her away. This human girl sticks to her so hard like her mother, feeling the best in her life when she sees Pearl. Who wouldn't? They all love the ballet on the stage.
"Aw, Christine!! You're back! My friend...huhuhu..." She wraps tighter than Donna. Pearl could've cracked from this.
"No! You got it wrong! I'm not Christine! I'm Pristine Pearl! I'm nobody!" Pearl denies.
She resisted, trying to softly let the grip of the human girl off of her. But she was firm and fragile at the same time. She wouldn't want to fight the human girl and cause a problem that the humans didn't want to. She was a good girl, after all. A good girl doesn't hurt innocents. But humans are not always innocent, right?
"Who's Christine? You're bluffing! I...I am Pristine Pearl!" Pearl begs.
"Pearl, I think you need to shut up. You're only making it easier for her."
Starglaze lay on the floor, watching the ceiling lamp as time went by. The ceiling lamp was bright, and the two Joylings were alone in this room. Pearl was struck with misfortune, and she had nothing more but a worry for the human girl who held her hostage with her love. Could it be that this is the moment she has been waiting for?