Made by Asianpotter1
Alone no Longer in a Fabricated World
Mekah was a young boy of age 13, and has made many mistakes. This time, however, he made a mistake he never imagined was possible. All they did was step foot into the recently opened Art Gallery of Guertena. He loved art, and the countless ways it could be expressed. Upon entry, the he was led into what could only be described as "another world". It had been hours since Mekah entered. Maybe minutes, days, years? Time had lost meaning at that point. The watch Mekah wore stopped moving, he never felt hungry, or thirsty, or tired. After picking up a green rose, he couldn't feel a thing. That is, except for the flower. Whenever something affected the green rose, the stimulation would translate to him, as if they were the flower, somehow controlling their body remotely but not at the same time. But that didn't matter, what mattered, was escaping this art maze.
Mekah had spent what they assumed to be hours running from half human creatures and dolls that attempted to destroy the rose, which they quickly learned could in turn kill them. They ran through long purple hallways and rooms in hopes of finding a key to the real world, their home.
Mekah sighed hard, after reaching another door for the thousandth time. "This sucks, honestly, just a quick visit, a fun pass time, that's all I thought this was gonna be." he said, "I guess I can't complain too much though, I'm still alive, and that's what matters."
Earlier, near the entrance, the two encountered the body of a human, recently dead. It was a male, probably an adult given his height, with light purple hair and a blue-green coat. In his hand was a flower that lost all of its petals. That was how they learned about the truth of their flowers.
"I should keep moving. There're more important things to think about than complaining." he said putting his hand on the doorknob. The heavy purple door slid open with a creak, and once it opened, and the boy in green stepped through. After closing the door behind him, something suddenly collided with Mekah, knocking him down.
"Ah!" he and another voice shouted. There was a loud thud, as he and the object fell to the floor.
"Urgh, that hurt." Mekah rubbed his head. "Watch where you-" he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. In front of him was something he feared he'd never see again. In front of him was another person, a head full of beautiful yellow hair and a green dress.
"W-woah," he said. "Hey, you okay?"
"...!" the girl backed away slowly.
"Hey, wait a second! Sorry I startled you. Are you from the real world too?"
"Real, world?" the girl asked.
"Yeah, you know, did you come here by visiting the Gallery too?"
"A-ah, yes, I'm from the Gallery."
"I see, then there's other people here too. That's a huge relief. I thought I was going to be here all alone forever."
"Being alone sucks." the blonde girl commented.
"Yeah, I can agree with you on that."
"You can?"
"Yep, but that's a story for later. For now, let's start with some introductions. I'm Mekah, I like art a lot."
"My name is Mary." the girl in green bowed. "I like drawing and making friends."
"Nice to meet'ya Mary. Anyways, wanna come with me? I'm sure you already know, but there are monsters here."
"Y-yeah! I'll come." she replied.
The two began walking forwards, down yet another purple hallway, eventually reaching a room full of porcelain rabbits. the light colored creatures lined the left and right walls, some on pedestals, some on the floor. they all had black and red eyes, standing out from their usual lighter shading.
"Aw~ these are super cute!" Mary cooed.
"Hm, yeah, I guess they're pretty cute." Mekah said examining the large painting of a rabbit on the wall. "It feels like there's something, off about this place, but I'm sure that should be fine. Let's keep searching for another door."
"Okay!"
The two searched the room, moving the glass rabbits, lifting the painting to look behind it, even backtracking through previous rooms, and still found nothing. Not a clue to progression in sight. There was one last idea Mekah had, so they returned to the room of bunnies… but they were no longer bunnies.
"This is… different." Mekah said. The white, pink, light green, and aqua "bunnies" that had originally filled the room were oddly replaced by dolls in different colored dresses. their eyes were bloodshot red, skin a dark blue, scraggly black hair that looked like thin ropes. "I guess the owner of these things had a mood swing or something."
"M-Mekah, this... this room…" Mary stuttered.
"Yeah, I know, so let's get out of here ASAP." he said, putting his idea into motion.
Of all items in the many rooms they had investigated, there was one last object left unturned. A small shelf in the corner of the bunny/doll room. At that point, with no other options left, it never looked so suspicious. The two worked together to move the shelf out of the way. With a stroke of good luck, Mekah's hunch was correct. There was something behind it, or more accurately, there wasn't something behind it. There was a hole behind the shelf the same size, making it big enough for both of them to pass through.
"Let's go, ladies first." Mekah offered.
"U-um, I'm not sure about that…"
"Alright, then I'll go ahead and make sure the coast is clear. If I scream or anything, push the shelf over or something to block the entrance, and find another way out without me."
"W-what?"
"If something happens, at least you should be able to survive this."
"I… I understand, Mekah." she replied. "Hey, Mekah, before we go any further, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure. we have time."
"What… what's your family like?"
"...my family? Hm, it's a bit of an awkward question, this is just between us, okay?"
"I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Alright then," Mekah sighed. "I don't really have a 'family'. I never knew my dad, but I heard he died a year or two after I was born."
"How did he die?" Mary asked with concern behind her voice.
"I'm not really sure. They say he died camping, or fishing. Anyways, my mom took over after that, and oh boy would I prefer not to think about her."
"Was she a bad mother?"
"Oh~ yeah. I'd prefer not going into details, but I'd rather not have parents compared to just her. I don't know how my dad put up with her insanity."
"Wow, I'm sorry, Mekah… are all mothers like that?"
"I don't think so, I knew some other people whose mothers were nice… what about yours?"
"I never had a mom, only a dad. he died a long time ago, when I was really young." Mary answered.
"jeez, that sucks.. well, I guess that means we're on the opposite ends of the same stick huh?"
"Heheh, yeah, I guess so. If I may ask another question; if only one of us can escape, who would you choose?"
Mekah's eyes widened, shaking for a moment to register. "I… I guess if it comes down to that. I'll make sure I can get you out of here, Mary."
"Me?! But, why? What about your friends?"
"I don't have any friends. I grew up isolated from everyone because of my obsession for art. That, and I don't really know why, but for some reason, I can just tell that you want to escape here more than anything in the world. Anyways, I hope it doesn't come to that. Let's keep going so that doesn't happen."
Mekah did as he said he would, getting on his knees and fitting himself through the rectangular hole in the wall. Fortunately, the other side was devoid of danger. Unfortunately, there was yet another room full of doors and paintings on the other side.
"Uh, alright, Mary, c'mon over-"
"Yaaaaaaaaaa!" Mary's voice screamed from the other side.
"Mary!" Mekah quickly got back onto his knees and began crawling back the way he came, hoping that Mary was alright. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound from behind him. The large shelf must have fallen over, blocking the hole off.
"Mary! Are you okay?!" He shouted.
"I-I don't know what happened! The giant bunny just jumped out of it's painting and pushed the shelf over then jumped back into its frame. I… I can't push it back upright!"
"Damnit, alright, Mary, just go like we said. Find another way and I'll try to catch up."
"O-okay" and with that, he could no longer hear her voice or her footsteps. He and her were separated, alone,
"I need to find a way through this place." he thought. Mekah reached into his pocket, checking the green rose he carried. "Alright, all ten petals still… shit" as he finished his sentence, there was an odd hissing sound coming from somewhere in the room. It didn't sound like a snake, or any other animal. It sounded like some gas was escaping from a leaking pipe. Soon, the room he was in began to take a reddish tint. Whatever the gas was, it made Mekah feel sick.
"*cough *cough crap," he looked back down at his rose, seeing one of the petals wither and fall from the stem. "More crap!"
Mekah darted around the room, trying any of the doors and finding them all locked. No, not locked, they didn't even move or feel like wood. It was like they were just drawn onto the wall to make him waste his time. After checking the doors lining the walls, he had almost lost all hope. That is, until he tried one last door. It was against the floor itself, almost the exact same color as the purple-turning red ground. Mekah reached for the handle, revelling in the fact that it was a real knob. He quickly turned it and pulled open the door, jumping in without a second thought. After falling down below, the door itself closed, and faded away leaving only the floor-now ceiling as it always looked.
"Alright, where am I… now…?" surrounding the young black haired boy, were countless books on bookshelves. It did not fit right with the environment at all. There were no monsters, no paintings, no sculptures, just a door ahead of him and books on shelves, with one on the floor opened.
"Hm, you're special, so let's see what you have for me." he spoke to the book, feeling a sudden sense of extreme loneliness. In those few minutes that he had company, he forgot what it was like to not have any company in an alien world. It didn't feel nice. Nevertheless, he looked down into the open pages of the green covered book.
"Hm, '...within the fabricated world, nothing may be taken out without something left behind…' sounds like something out of an anime or something." he read, turning to the next page. "next page... 'The last work of Guertena' huh? Can't pass this off… I should bring this back with us when we escape. I'm sure people would love to hear about this. 'While this girl appears lifelike. Naturally, she is not based on a real per-'" he suddenly stopped reading as he saw the picture on the next page. On the other side, was the a portrait with a girl drawn inside of it. The girl had sky blue eyes, golden yellow hair, and a green dress... "oh… I see. Wait, that's not what's important, I still need to find that girl, whatever she is." Mekah said holding the green book under his arm. The door ahead was locked, again, but at this moment, that didn't stop him, as he pushed his way through the door, knocking it off its hinges.
Ow, that's going to leave bruises Mekah lamented before getting back up and continuing to run. What the hell am I even doing?! I'm running around looking for some girl that's not real- okay maybe is but isn't real? Whatever, she's the same as those creatures, why am I looking for more trouble?
Mekah looked at what remained of his green rose, there was but two petals left, and no water vases, which could instantly replenish the petals on a rose, to be seen anywhere.
"Fffffrrrrrrkk" he screamed at hismelf.
With more speed in his legs than he ever had, Mekah sprinted room to room, knocking over lord knows what and even confusing the half human monsters that stalked him constantly.
Water, and Mary. Water, and Mary Mekah repeated as he confronted a door blocked off by a headless mannequin, spreading its arms to cover the front of the door.
"I don't have time for this, move it!" Mekah demanded. The mannequin didn't have a head, but if it did, it would have been shaking it. Whatever other plans it had, the clear purpose was to prevent him from moving on. However, fueled by raging levels of adrenaline, he wasn't going to let anything stop him.
Luckily for Mekah, the mannequin was just that, a mannequin. It wasn't very heavy. Mekah grabbed the thin black waist of the headless living statue, to which it grabbed his arms in retaliation.
"Outta the way lady!" he demanded as he swung it to the side, flinging it into the wall. With the door no longer blocked, he gripped the knob, pulling the door open. He could see a painting that looked identical to the one he saw back in the real world, but the original black was white, and the frame was gone. He felt something pulling him forward, like he was being drawn to the painting. Unfortunately, he saw something else in front of it. He was seeing what he wanted the absolute least.
"H-hey, stop it, get away from me!" Mary demanded as she backed away. However, she wasn't backing away from Mekah, she didn't even realize he was there. She was slowly inching away from a gigantic blue skinned doll with blood red eyes and scraggly black hair. "Wait! Why are you doing this?!" she asked, getting no reply.
"Hey ugly!" Mekah screamed out, catching both of their attentions. "Yeah, you, I dare you to try and pick on someone else you red eyed smurf!" the large doll turned itself away from Mary, facing Mekah in the long corridor. The massive creature's crooked red smile changed into a large frown, as it dragged its body towards the boy.
"m-Mekah! Get out of here!"
"Like hell am I leaving you alone with mr. muppet rej-ah!" the large creature swung it's left arm, slamming Mekah into the wall with incredible force and knocking the wind out of him. Due to the attack, the second to last petal of his rose fell to the ground and withered away.
"Mekah!" Mary screamed. The creature seemed to notice the flower petal, as it used its free hand to search his body, while holding by his arms with the other. After a quick and uncomfortable body search, the creature found the green rose in his back pocket.
"Damn, this thing...!" Mekah said, trying to struggle out.
"Let go of him!" Mary screamed, charging at the creature with a knife in her hand. With the large doll's hands tied, and no legs to use, the monster was helpless to stop Mary from slashing at it rapidly with her knife. "Get off of him!"
The monster roared and shrieked in agony. Blue paint spilled out of the gashes Mary made in its body. With the nineteenth slash, the creature's grip finally loosened, dropping Mekah. Its body fell to the ground limp with a loud thud. The room went nearly silent, with Mary panting heavily.
"M-M-Mekah, are you okay?" Mary asked.
"Y-yeah," Mekah struggled to sit up, picking back up what was left of his rose from the creature's blue lifeless hand. "Looks like you saved my life, thanks a ton, Mary."
"Well, I had to, you risked yourself to help me too, and you're important you know?"
"Hmph, yeah, but probably in a way I don't really want to believe."
"What?" Mary asked.
"Mary, in this state, I probably won't be able to walk around and get out of here with you. That being said, I want you to be honest with me, okay?"
"O...kay" Mary was hesitant to answer.
"Let's be real here, you're not who you seem, and you never planned on us both escaping."
"What? That's so m-"
"C'mon, I said be honest, right?" Mekah sighed. "I read that, your book. I came here, you are from here. The only way to escape is if something from the outside trades places. I'm going to guess you caused the shelf to fall, and from there you'd leave me here, and go to the real world, but that guy had other plans. Am I right?"
"...y-yes."
"Heh, I should've expected this, since you asked me that one question… you know, y-"
"Stop it!" Mary demanded. "Don't even try to tell me that I'm the bad guy! I know I am, I know what I'm doing hurts others, but you try being alone for as long as I have. The other paintings never did anything when I tried to talk to them. I was the only living creation in this gallery. They didn't animate until you came. It's been so horrible, you have no idea!" Mary broke down, translucent blue paint drops falling from her eyes and onto her green dress. "I just want to see the outside, just for a little. I read the stories about it, I want to be out there, I want to be real like Papa was… w-what's so wrong with wanting freedom?"
Mekah sighed again, albeit much heavier, "Mary, if you're going out there, you gotta learn to listen more."
"H-uh?"
"I said, if you're going out there, then you need to listen better." Mekah smiled.
"d-Do you not get it? If I go out there, you'll be trapped here. You'll be all alone too. You know this, yet, why are you smiling?"
"Oh come on, Mary, don't you remember my answer?" Mekah reminded her. "Like I said, there's not really anything for me to go back to. I've seen all I can. But, you, you've never seen the outside world. As your friend, I want to give you that opportunity."
"But, I might never come back, what will you do then?"
"Well, I think I'll just keep holding on, and wait for you… go, what are you waiting for? Your chance is right here in front of us."
"I just… I don't want you, to be alone."
"Oh please, it won't be that bad, I mean, I get to explore this huge place, with paintings and designs I've never seen before. Plus I got your friends to keep me up and running, literally."
Mary giggled slightly, wiping away the "tears" from her face. "But, are you really sure, Mekah?"
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be okay. Just got to find that never-ending water vase and hang out there for a while. I'll wait here for you, Mary."
"Hm," Mary paused. "You know, I remember in this book, that when someone promises another, and will 'wait for them' it means they lo-"
"Hm? What does it mean?" Mekah asked. Mary, smiling lightly, bent down, leaning her face into his.
"Mmmwaah" she suddenly pecked him on the cheek, causing a thick red color to spread across his face. If he could, he probably would have jumped back in surprise, but since he was still mostly injured, the best he could do was lean to the other side.
"m-Mary?! What was… a-ahem, thanks, I guess."
"Heheh, don't mention it, I'll make sure to come back, so you can return the favor."
"Yeah, don't forget about me, 'kay?"
"It's a promise, a promise of a reunion"
And so, the girl walked away from the boy, the fabricated girl of a fake world took her first steps into the world we call "real". Though her mind was a blur when she arrived, at the very least, one thing remained intact; the promise she made, to return for the person that gave her a new life. she promised, and she wouldn't ever forget. She wouldn't dare lie to her first friend.