The spotlight is on, the curtains are set, and the stage is all for the show. But it was missing something—the performer. The performer lies behind the curtain, holding her tutu tightly as stage fright kicks in. A man calls from the seat of her name, with a camera pointing at the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and also children of the stars. I present you the greatest ballet of all Joylingers...!"
*Piano tunes* "Pristine Pearl!"
"Come on, Pearl! Show the world what you have!"
"Dance for us! Dance for the world!"
The Joyling lies a pearly wonder—a ballet with a beautiful pink dress that could dance and swirl elegantly in a spotlight. But she was too nervous to be shown. Her grip on the curtain tightens as the call for her name echoes. The audience and the cameras are looking for her, which puts a blush.
"I don't know if I could do this." She said to herself.
"The eyes. They're looking way too much at me. I can't do this..."
"You can do this, Pristine. I believe in you."
The man in a shadow stood tall with his face shrouded, but Pearl knew it was the man he could trust. The man calmly stood to boost her will, whispering words that entrusted her to move like a wind. In an instant, Pearl leaps from her left foot onto the stage, holding the negative thought behind her.
"I can do this! I can do this!"
In the moment they'd been waiting, the audience saw Pearl perform on a stage confidently with a swirl of props. Emerging from the clam and eyes sought out to the moon, she calls upon its light to shimmer at her beautiful dress. The stage is set on the ocean, with waves flowing below her foot and the moon hanging by the night sky.
*Thought* "Yes. Yes. This is it!"
*Thought* "This is it!"
The audience appraises her, watching each second for her in the spotlight as she makes a complete series of wonder through the stage. Stars and lights shimmered above her head, and she had never seen down upon her foot. The audience shrieked in joy as the performance ended with her bowing with honour for all her audience.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I appreciate all your love!"
"I couldn't do this without all of your support! Thank you! Thank you!"
Roses fly from the sky at her, and the camera flashes at the stage where she stands. The audience claps at her wonderful performance, captivating Pearl with such pride for herself. But the sweet taste of their praise was too loud, too much for someone who had danced even for a slight flaw.
"Wait, this isn't...right..." She held the roses.
"This is...not right...at all..."
Her joyous face turned into a horror as she saw the roses wilting before her hands. All the claps and whistles for her name turned to a mockery despite the perfect show she had made. But the lights still stand, waiting for Pearl to do more. But she has nothing more but grief.
"No, no, no, no! NO!!"
"No, no! NO!! It was all wrong! It was all wrong!!" She fell on her knees.
Her scream echoes across the stage, but the roses are still thrown upon her. What was once a spotlight for her now left her in the shadow of disgust and shame. Darkness swallowed her whole like a tide of insignificance washing upon her pearly skin and leaving her to dust in another darkness. But as it seemed it was all over, a light flashed once more.
"No, huh?" Pearl awakens. Her dream was dark, but the world was still bright.
"Oh, it was all just a dream. All dream..."
The bed was too comfortable for Pearl to dream, and the lights from the ceiling shone against her will, tempting her to turn it off. All those terrible audiences and spotlights were a freakshow, but no longer. Now, in the Funtakers Institute, she awakens, knowing she is unshackled from the spotlights.
She is not the short ballet like she used to be. She had grown into a teenager, a Joyling teenager. Her old dress lies on the chair as nothing more but an artefact, while she wears another, taller one. It's been six years since she had proper clothes. A Joyling can also grow, too.
"No more spotlights, no more screams...Hehe..." she chuckled nervously at the mirror.
"Just Pearl on the mirror..."
"Just...Pearl..."
[Rehabilitation Document]
Subject name: Pristine Pearl
Subject's ID: J-P-F-001
Age: 16
Height: 5′6 feet.
Weight: 15 kg
Recovery progress: Stable
History:
J-P-F-001 stands out as a Joyling with pinkish-hue skin and a glossy sphere head resembling what seems to be a pearl stone. With a face masked with two red cheeks and diamond-shaped pupils, her appearance is shown to appease audiences with more girlish features whilst holding the ballerina title with her pink skirt and white ballet shoes.
Recovered by several tapes and notes from Joylingers factory, J-P-F-001 was designed as a character with extraordinary dancing skill, serving as both the main character of "Pristine Pompous Hours" and a side character for other Joylings.
She was recovered in June 2004 in a vault along with other subjects. During the findings, J-P-F-001 would show signs of dismissal and resentment toward humans, preferring to be in a corner away from the light where others (mainly humans) wouldn't see her.
Notes:
Due to the number of episodes within Pristine Pompous Hours, J-P-F-001 is concluded to have her pride torn as a subject towards the stage, leading her to develop an acute stage fright and fear towards humans, likely due to her audiences being one.
During therapy, J-P-F-001 prefer staying in a dark spot or a corner, avoiding interaction with humans as much as she can. Rehabilitation was found significantly difficult when J-P-F-001 would often hide in narrow creaks and holes of the Institute before personnel were tasked to search for her.
However, J-P-F-001 was shown to have a quick recovery in two months unlike many Joylings in other rooms. She has shown slight comfort towards humans and has even made a small conversation with one during the break despite not being asked to do so. J-P-F-001 is ready to be launched into the real world by the end of August.
Please ensure no witnesses and news report present as J-P-F-001 is highly unstable towards flash exposure.
She left her room with a glum thought, wandering the sleeping dorm on the second floor while watching a few of her friends chattering between awe and fear. Many of these Joylings she knows well, and Pearl loves her friends so much. Well, except for one.
Pearl approaches a bomb-headed Joyling who is tearing papers on the ground.
"Hey, Fuss." She said calmly.
"DON'T TALK TO ME!" Fuss yelled unreasonably.
"Did you follow your therapy well? Or did you just make Mr. Daniel angry again?" She scowled slightly.
"I DIDN'T MAKE ANYONE ANGRY! I'M NOT ANGRY AT ALL! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Fuss, if you don't stop shouting at everyone here, you won't leave this place anydays."
"GOOD. I MIGHT AS WELL STAYING HERE! LIKE YOU!"
"I'm afraid not..." She left.
Pearl encounters a sphere-headed Joyling with a Vinyl on his back playing on keyboard notes.
"Beat!" She yelled his name.
"Pearl!" The Joyling yelled happily. His hands are still playing with the keyboard.
"Woah, where did you got this thing?"
"Well, the Institute offers me one to help my therapy, and I couldn't say I'm much better than I am now!"
"Does that mean you'll be out in here sooner, too?"
"Maybe. I haven't heard my caretaker saying anything about it."
"Oh, I hope you do. Maybe the two of us can still make some more song outside."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be able to make a song without your voice. It's so fitting to my lists..."
"Hehe..." She left with a smile.
Pearl encounters a huge Joyling with a leaves-covered head crawling on a tree.
"Hey, Naturiel."
"*Squiggling noise*" The Joyling utters.
"You must have been comfortable there. Have you been thinking of Ms. Blush again?"
"*Shrugging noise*"
"I just want to say thank you for letting me fixing my mirror. I was afraid I was about to go to the outside without it."
"*Confused shrugging noise*"
"Yeah, I'm about to leave this place today. The caretakers said I am the first one to recover here..."
"*Grunting shrug noise*"
"Aww, don't worry, Naturiel. I'm sure you would be. You didn't even look that troubled." She left.
"*Shrugging noise*"
She makes a new friend daily, be it a Joyling, Frowling, or a human on every corner of Funtakers' wall. Everyone on the wall knows her, just as her status as a ballet performer meant to be—always being in the spotlight. But Pearl didn't always find it a comfort. Sometimes, it could be a nightmare.
"Hey, Pearl!" A human scientist called her.
"Eek!"
Each time the name was called by someone who wasn't a Joyling or a Frowling, Pearl always fell away from the source of the sound, albeit from her front or back. Humans aren't always the person to trust, even if they are the ones helping her out of her misery.
"Woah, that's a better reaction than three weeks prior. At least it was a Frowning effect or hiding again..." The woman said.
"Ms. Carolina!" Pearl breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ready to
"It's already? Wait, I haven't searched for Starglaze yet!"
Her human caretaker is Carolina, a woman in her 30s who had a good experience with child care and is very friendly and comforting to Joyling. She helped Pearl's mental condition to stabilise, performing therapies that brought Pearl to who she is now. And perhaps, she was the only human she could trust.
"Huh, you didn't saw him, too? That's weird..." Carolina mumbled.
"Have you packed your bag already, P? I'm sure you wouldn't want to walk without your precious mirror."
"Y-yeah...but I need to tip a goodbye with my friend, too. I won't return here anymore, right? What if they missed me? Beat and I had a long-lasting music plan."
"No, but if we would, we could arrange a meeting with you anytime after you get comfortable in your new home. How's that?"
"Thank you. I'll consider that..." Pearl left for her room.
It was time for Pearl to leave this place and join the world as she used to be. No longer would she wait in the corner, and her days under concrete were over. Suitcases were set in her room filled with clothes and stuff she would need when she reunited with her family. But Pearl still couldn't think of leaving her friends yet.
"Aargh! Joyling!" Someone tapped from the window.
"Eek! A Frowling!" She backs off with fear.
But Pearl couldn't think of staying around with Frowlings as well. These Joyus-painted creatures are corroded through their skin with a rainbow-like blood. They are not a good friend with Joylings, and never would they. One seems attracted to her Joyus-rich flesh—one of Frowlings favoured treats.
"Joyling! Joyling! Joyling!!" The Frowlings bashes his head through the window, leaving a crack that soon grows into the glass.
"Help! Help! There's a loose Frowling!" Pearl presses a button in her bedroom that calls for help.
Frowlings are the beasts in Joylingers' nature. Happiness perverted through an absolute grimace and resentment towards the living. Joylings do not befriend them, and neither are at the sight of an alliance with anyone but their hunger. But their corruption is strong—it has even taken the life of a Joyling more than ten times.
*Prang* The glass shattered, and the Frowling jumped into the dorm to get onto Pearl.
"Eek!!" Pearl backs off to her bed.
"Joylings for a feast! Joyling for a feast! Joyling for the feast!!" The Frowling leaps onto her.
"Aah!"
This is why the Funtakers Institute was in charge of keeping them aside, keeping the sadness away from the happy face and reducing unnecessary brutality from the world. The number of humans inside would keep the place safe and sound, with their arms tighter and immense than most of the Frowlings' grip.
The Frowling's shock collar was activated, immediately putting it to subduing.
"Aagh!!"
A group of humans arrived to capture the Frowling with a cage. The capture was swift—thanks to its shock system.
"There you are, you little—" The man stares at the worried Pearl.
"I mean, you bad Frowling! Don't you ever think of feeding on any of us!"
They escorted the Frowling away, safely comforting Pearl before Carolina arrived.
"Pearl!" Carolina yelled. She finds her in her room with a scientist.
"Alright, gotta go, kid. Your caretaker's here. Have fun!" The man left.
"Ms. Carolina!"
Pearl finds it difficult to live beside her hunters, but she knows that as long as a wall is made, the Frowlings won't be close to them. And assured by Carolina and her colleagues that the quicker she left, the better it was. The scale of her decision slowly leans toward a leave.
"Woah, that's the third time we have to replace that glass. Do the Frowlings never learns to rest?" Carolina helped Pearl with her belongings.
"I think I'm ready to leave." Pearl finishes.
"Woah, really?"
"W-well, I'm not that nervous anymore. I mean...not because of the Frowlings, but..." She stutters.
"I really wanted to meet my family. I wonder if they're still alive, or if they even remembered me..."
"Well...that's the spirit! But don't worry, it won't be just an immediate leave. A mama bird like me wouldn't let her chicks wander too far?"
"Hehe...you're funny, Ms. Carolina."
Carolina perched her eyes on one of the posters belonging to Pearl's show.
"I still can't believe you've grown. You look way different than the one in your poster..."
"Don't you see that you've changed, Pearl? You're not the person Mr. Chrome said about you and your friends. You're more of a human than he would have ever been."
"To think the day I've found you was at the moment I realised this cruel man who hurt you deserve his fate. It's good that whoever sneak into that factory did something good for us."
"When that man said he find you on the stage, I couldn't be more broken to hear your singing for help."
"Yeah..."
"But did you really mean it? Do you think I could be more than a ballet...?"
"Definitely. I mean, maybe you could start by something new than that old ballet clothes?"
Pearl grasped her skirt.
But she couldn't leave without Mr. Starglaze by her side. The little companion of hers hadn't been found around the facility, and Pearl grew uneasy. She searched through the corridors and corners of Funtakers Institute, but not even a speck of dust of his was found. Mr Starglaze is just—disappear.
Pearl headed to the Playground, searching for the last place for Starglaze.
"Aww, Mr. Starglaze is not here..."
"It's alright, Pearl. Maybe he didn't want to go."
"But he's my friend! He can't go around without me!"
"Well, maybe he wanted to take a fresh air for once? Maybe he's waiting for you by the gate! Think about it..."
"No..." Pearl frowns.
"Hey, don't worry. He won't be that far." Carolina taps Pearl's shoulder lightly while approaching gently with a calm tone.
"If we found Starglaze, we'll bring him directly to you, okay?"
"Okay..."
What a worst day! Pearl had to leave without Starglaze, her bestest companion from this Institute. He might not know her anymore, and she would've forgotten her, too. It makes this one Joyling sad, knowing she couldn't do much but walk with all her suitcases tight to the ground floor.
But she didn't forget to say goodbye to her friends, too. Many Joylings are not as lucky as her to be the first to see the world. A lot of them would've missed her for every moment and year they'd spent in a deep bunker of misery. They are gathering at the door, looking for her at the step of departure.
"Pearl!" Two Joylings call her from a distance with a rush. More follows to her.
"Fuss? Beat? What are you all doing here?"
"You wouldn't think we're just ignoring you leaving us already, right? You'll be the one to witness the real world!"
"Yeah, we are jealous! It's unfair how you get to be the first one!"
"I guess I'll never learn the world..." Fuss scowled away.
"We hope out there you'll still remember us! Here, we've made some
"But some Joylings can't come in because...well...they're not ready to walk around freely."
The Joylings shared one last memorial for Pearl to remember. Right over Beat's arms, there's a photo book containing several moments of Joylings on Funtakers Institute alongside Pearl during their recoveries. But she was less showing, even evading the camera.
"I'll miss you all!" Pearl shed a tear.
"Aww..." They all gathered for a hug. A group of hugs.
The door was shimmering with sunlight, with Pearl as yet the spotlight for others. All her friends were waving goodbye at her, while she dragged her suitcase to the outside with a tear of joy. All the Joylings could do was call her name one more time before it became the last echo to her ears.
"Bye-bye, Pearl!"
"*Sobs* Aww, this is even sadder without Starglaze..."
Pearl awaits in the waiting room, with her suitcase beside her as she watches the clock passing. But her family hadn't yet come for her as she was told, and Starglaze is still nowhere to be found. This gives her more time to idle and watch herself in the view of her precious handheld mirror.
"I hope my family won't be harsh to me. I couldn't imagine doing this without Caroline..."
"What do you think, Starglaze? Should we do this, too?"
"Ooh...right. Where are you, my friend? You shouldn't be too far."
*Shrug* *Shrug* *Shrug*
"Huh?" Pearl ponders. Her suitcase was shaken unusually.