"Ib, what were my parents like?"
"I can't say that I remember."
This was how she had always answered me. And as the years went on, it became more of a sure fact that it was the only way she would ever answer.
"How can you not remember?" I frowned in disappointment.
"It's not that I can't, really…" Ib murmured softly, running the brush through my hair one last time. "One-hundred." She set it down on the night stand beside her, and with nimble fingers ,delicately split my hair mass in two and pushed both sides over the tops of my shoulders. The midnight hair fell neatly against the top of my chest and reached just above my belly button
"Why can't you tell me?" I felt the hair brush across my collar and raised my hand up to smooth it out. Crinkles formed on my forehead as my eyebrows came together.
"I've simply chosen to forget." Ib said, a smile forming at the corners of her mouth. I looked away from her in gentle frustration. I could hear a small chuckle escape her lips. I hated it when she laughed at me.
"Ib," I said. "Are you ever going to get married?"
She stopped laughing, but a faint smile remained on her face as she focused her eyes on the ground. "No, Kai."
"Why not?"
She looked up at me curiously. "Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Her expression changed, and I could no longer decipher how she was feeling.
It took me a while to think about my answer. I began running my fingers through newly brushed hair. Ib combed through each side exactly one hundred times every day. It had become routine, and regardless of the countless times I told her I was old enough to do it myself, she continued the tradition without fail, every night. It was a while before I finally replied. "It's my fault, huh?"
Her head fell sympathetically to one side. "It most certainly is not. Why would you think that?"
"You can't fall in love with anybody because… I'm here. I'm the reason you're always… sad, aren't I , Ib?" I turned around to look up at her. She furrowed her eyebrows and just looked at me for a while.
"I've been in love before, Kai." She said.
"You have?"
"Yes."
"With who?"
"I believe I met him at an art gallery. When I was very, very young."
"How young?"
"I can't say I remember."
My eyes narrowed. "What's he like?"
"He was a very caring person, I remember. He always put other people before himself. Even if they were in the way, he made sure no one was ever left behind. He had a way of making people feel important, as if they really meant something to him…" Her voice drifted, making her sound very far away from me. We sat in silence for a while, the only noise was that of our breathing. "Are you tired, Kai?" She said finally, turning back to face me. I let out a small sigh and rubbed my eyes furiously.
"Yes." I pushed myself up off the rag carpeting; My hair following behind me in a streak of black and sliding from between Ib's thin fingers. "I'm going to sleep now, Ib."
Ib nodded her head gently. She extended her hand out to me, signaling for me to help her get up.
I cocked my head slightly. Ib wasn't old yet. Atleast, she didn't look it. But she always seemed to ask for my help on little things, as if she really needed the assistance. I grabbed her small, delicate hands, and using every little ounce of strength I had, I scrunched my nose and yanked her thin frame up off the bed. I was always pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to help Ib up. Her body was as light as solid air.
"I may not be old yet, but mentally I'm about as ancient as a grandmother." She said, as if able to read my thoughts. "Raising you taught me a lot of things, Kai." Ib said assuredly, "And one of those things is that you should never take advantage of those around you. Treasure them always. Because if you don't, one day when you really truly need them, they may not have any need for you anymore. That's why I always ask you to help me out with little things, Kai. Because I could never bear to be away from you, and I don't want you to get used to being too far from me." When Ib smiled, suddenly I could see the stress that had bore its way into her pretty face over the years of raising me. Her eyes were dark and sullen, and her skin was pale and unfed. She squeezed my hand gently before heading towards the door.
I frowned slightly; my eyes already fallen to nearly a slit at this point. I was sure Ib had meant for something deeper within those words than that. But for now I was too tired to think about it. Sometimes Ib could be so vague. Sometimes it bothered me that I couldn't understand her words. I followed her to the doro.
The scent of faint roses weaved its way into my nose as she embraced me tightly before going to sleep. She wrapped one hand delicately behind the back of my skull, and pushed me gently in towards her so she could kiss the top of my forehead. I could feel her warm, thin lips press against the surface of my cold skin. It sent a warm feeling throughout my whole body, and a sense of unbearable sleepiness overtook me. As she left the room, a thin trail of rose scent remained lingering in the air and filled my lungs as I took one last deep breath. Ib's aroma had always made me feel drowsy. It made me feel all sorts of things, but mostly it was my sleeping amenity. Perhaps the reason being, whenever she held me close enough to smell it, she was always comforting me in some way. I remember her holding me countless nights as I cried about things that kids cried about. She let me cry until I could cry no more, and she would tuck me into bed, but not before embracing me tightly and leaving me with a kiss. Ib turned around to look at me one last time and smiled. "I love you." She murmured.
I nodded my head and shut the door gently after her. My head felt heavy, and my bed was but a step away. A single leap could land me perfectly within the warm, comforting sheets. The blankets seemed to thicken in my vision, as they whispered an invitation for me to slide into the unabridged unconsciousness I was so unfamiliar with. I turned away, refusing to fall for their impending allure. Instead, I sat my small frame down onto the thin seating cushion by my window and spread the draping curtain so that it surrounded all of me. I stared out the window, into the blackness that was nighttime. I could see nothing but the obscurity of darkness, and somehow I could feel a sense of insecurity crawling up the core of my spine. Something was coming for me, I could sense it. I pressed my skin up against the cool glass window and closed my eyes.
Take me somewhere else.
The sun had only just begun to reveal itself when Ib walked into my room. The door opened gently, and I could hear her footsteps come creakingly towards my direction. She slowly pulled the drapes back away from me, exposing my gloomy room to the light outisde. She looked down at me with her sad eyes and lay one hand delicately on my shoulder.
"You didn't sleep?" She asked me.
"No." I didn't bother to turn around and face her. I knew she was already used to this.
"We're going out today." She said. I could hear the sound of her pajama pants rubbing against each other as she swiveled her ankle nervously. It seemed she was acting a bit more anxious than usual.
"Where are we going?" I asked her. It had been a very long time since Ib last took me out. Not that she never offered. In fact she did everything in her power to get me out of my room, but I had always refused. I lay my hand flat on the glass and watched as everything below me in the streets began to light up. The sun brought life into the city that was so lifeless just a moment ago. Or what seemed like a moment ago, to me.
"An art museum."
I turned around. "The one you were talking about last night?"
"Yes, that one."
My hand slowly slid down the glass and eventually fell into my lap. "Why? Do you think you'll see him there?"
"No, no, not really." She shook her head softly. "I'm just hoping it will bring back some memories is all. Besides, art galleries are fun, aren't they Kai?" A weak smile formed on her lips. Though her face said she was happy, I could see sadness in her eyes. I was making Ib sad again, that much was prominent.
"Sure." I said finally, "We should go. I want to go."
"Really?" Her voice suddenly lit up. "Do you really want to?" I found it to be most peculiar that Ib was the one asking for my permission. Even if sometimes it felt like I was the one controlling her, she was the adult here after all. I wished she would stop depending on me to make her choices for her. I wished Ib would put herself first before anyone else, and before me.
"Uh, mm." I nodded at her. She squeezed my shoulders and kissed the top of my head affectionately.
"I'll pick you out some clothes then. Go brush your teeth and wash your face. You'll need to look your best today, Kai." She urged me off the seat and I reluctantly made my way into the bathroom.
I couldn't remember the last time I had gone out in public besides for school. Even then, all of us kids were herded within the building at all times until we were picked up, so I didn't get exposed much to the outside world. I never spoke to anyone besides Ib, even barely so, and things had been like this for as long as I could remember. But something deep in my gut told me things were about to change drastically. After all, I had been waiting for change, and now I was taking the first steps towards achieving that. Though it was rather exciting to think things would be different soon, I did feel a bit of apprehension, as I always did when things were changing. I knew this would be the beginning of the end. What, and when, though, I hadn't the slightest clue. I was afraid as well as thrilled of whether or not I was going to gain something, or lose.
The gallery had an high class, but outdated feel about it. The walls were painted a bland beige color, perhaps rather accurately reflecting the attitudes of most the people meandering around within its boundaries. I stood closely by Ib's side as she spoke to the man at the front desk. I listened intently as the two made small talk for a while. Once or twice while they were chatting, the man would look at me, and I'd quickly flicker my head away to avoid making eye contact with him. Something about him made me nervous; the whole gallery in general was giving me bad vibes. In fact, I was beginning to regret agreeing to come along with Ib. But she looked happier, a lot happier, as if she had been longing to come back here for a while. Once they finished talking, the man handed her a pamphlet and she nodded him a thankyou before taking my hand.
"Let's go, Kai." She smiled down at me. I was about to ignore her but the smile was genuine, she truly looked happy for once.
"Okay." I replied. Although Ib never usually held my hand, I allowed her to pull me along this once, as we wandered the gallery and she pointed out the different paintings by a man named "Guertana" who apparently this museum was honored for. She took time in explaining all of their individual meanings based off of a little golden plaque written beneath, or beside each of them. I nodded, even though I couldn't understand much of what she was saying. She looked so animated as she spoke, I wasn't used to this side of Ib before.
Finally, we reached the last painting of the second floor and her feet came to a halt.
"This one is…" She murmured. Her voice changed. Everything suddenly changed; I could feel it in the atmosphere that something was different. Her eyes were half lit once again, and her thin lips seemed even more sorrowful than usual.
"What is it Ib?" I asked her. I squinted my eyes in efforts to read the plaque written below the colossal painting that took up almost the entire hallway. Fabricated World, it read. "Is there something wrong with this one?" Shivers ran up my spine. I looked up at Ib.
"Something about this one… feels familiar." Her hands slid out of mine, and she used them to trace the engraving on the plaque carefully.
"You said you've been here before, right? Maybe you saw it then?" I asked her. But she didn't respond. Ib never ignored me. I saw her eyes glaze over, as she took a few steps back to look at the painting as a whole. I watched her in curiosity, as she stood in silence.
Suddenly what sounded like the distant meow of a cat echoed in my ear and my head quickly flickered to the right. Nothing seemed to be there. In fact, it was strange that no one else seemed to be in the hallway with us. We were alone. I twisted my mouth to one side and slowly turned back around to look at Ib. "Ib, did you hear-" The lights went out, then back on, then flickered again until they completely shut off and I stood alone in the dark. "Ib?" I choked. But even through the darkness I could see no one there; her silhouette was gone as well as my confidence. "Ib, where are you?" I cried softly. There was no reply, as my shoulders began to shake.
Come , Kai. Come down below …
Hello lovelies!~
I've been meaning to write this fic for a while, and I was finally able to finish plotting all of it, but i've just been so busy!
Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this first chapter!
This is one of the most interesting games I've ever played, not to mention twisted and heart wrenching.
Kai is an original character I created for the sake of this fanfic,
Ib is supposed to be sort of a mother figure / caretaker for her
Though just to make things clear, neither of them are very old
However I wont be exposing any particular age for either of them, I'll just leave that up to the imagination of my readers . It makes things more interesting that way :)
I'm just letting you guys know now, this won't line up exactly with the game, but for the most part it will :)
I have really high hopes for this fanfic and it's going to be really fun to write as the story progresses, and hopefully enjoyable to read as well!
Thank you so much for reading, and i'll see you guys soon with the new update . ~
Reviews are greatly appreciated!~