"Ah, here we are Ib!" Ib's mother said, as they pulled up in the art gallery parking lot.
"Yes, the famous Guertena does not disappoint! His artwork is amazing! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time." Her father chimed in.
Ib unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, listening to her parents small talk about how fun the art gallery would be. She glanced up at the gray sky, studying the clouds.
'Rain? But it was so sunny just a minute ago..' Ib thought. At least the air was lukewarm, and she felt excited to see the museum as well.
Her father opened the twin-doors for his wife and Ib. Immediately Ib felt a rush of cool air conditioning, and looked around the medium sized lobby. Pretty dark blue banners, with red lining and silver trimmings, dangled from poles just above the entrance. Ib looked around and took in her surroundings, stealing glances at the formally potted plants, and the fancy rug that lay in front of the reception desk. Her father and mother quickly approached the desk and began talking with the Receptionist. The receptionist motioned her right hand over a stack of pamphlets. Her mother took two and dipped her head in 'thanks' to the lady, as her father looked over some charts and a map. Ib raised her hand and gently gripped her mothers sleeve, tugged and said;
"Mom, i'm going to to go ahead, okay?" "Alright honey. Keep your voice low and do not bother the other guests." Her mother responded, smiling, though her eyes showed complete seriousness.
"I won't." Ib replied, plainly. She walked away from the desk and went into the next room over. Ib looked around and gapped at the pretty paintings she saw. She rushed over to one and read its description out loud, but quiet enough so she would not disturb anyone.
" 'The lady in red... This piece of work was not actually based on a real lady, due to the fact Guenrtena never painted real people. Though rumors say this 'lady in red' was Guenrtenas' fair maiden..'...Huh, well, which ever "fact" is true, this painting is really pretty.."Ib mumbled.
She looked around and observed the other guests; an old lady with a walking cane, a child with red hair and pigtails, a frustrated mother trying to calm her crying baby, and what looked to be a college student studying a rainbow looking crystal tree. She looked over to her right and saw a light blue haired man, with darker blue streaks in his hair, and a torn, worn-down looking coat. She backed away from the painting and continued on, looking at all of the pretty pictures.
" 'Worry'... 'Bitter fruit'..." She began to say the titles of the pictures out loud.
" 'The coughing man'..'Enlightenment'..." She stopped dead in her tracks and stared in horror at headless statues with dresses.
'What the..? What are those? They give me the creeps!' She thought, and moved closer cautiously, as if they would come alive and begin to chase her, looking them up and down with a 'What the..?' look on her face. She got strange looks from people around the artwork; So she turned and began walking back to the lobby, her face completely flushed. Ib looked around and noticed a staircase she over looked earlier. She began walking up the snow white stairs, counting them as she went. 'Aha! Exactly 20 stairs.' She smiled at her wonderful counting skills and continued her stroll, glancing at the sculptures in this area. Ib began to walk down an empty, narrow hallway with a massive painting on the left hand side. She looked up at it with eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She rushed over and looked at the beautiful art splayed over the canvas. But, what caught her eye was the amazingly detailed rose at the top of the entire thing. There was a small hint of morning dew on the petals and leaves of it, and it was a brilliant red. It had only five petals, but they were fluffed and curled at the edges, making it look huge and beautiful. She looked down and read the title out loud. Though she couldn't read the first word, the second one was perfectly clear.
"Uh...Something...World...? What does that mean..?" She asked herself, and began to read the description.
" 'If you leap into this new realm there will be no turning back, in order to return you will need to complete every task handed to you. Will you take the risk?' Huh? Is that some kind of..riddle?" Ib looked around.. No one..Good...She gently placed her small hand on the painting, feeling its cool touch made her shiver, and her eyes went wide as a small shock shook her. She jerked her hand away from the painting as the lights began to flicker. She began to panic but remained calm once the lights stayed on after the seventh flick. She looked around and quickly left the painting behind to return to the flurry of people on the oth-...
"W-What? Where did everyone go..? They must of w-went to the lobby to see why the lights flickered.." She mumbled. Ib quickly made her way down the stairs and looked with wide eyes, at the empty lobby. Her heart began to beat faster and she ran for the entrance doors as the lights finally shut off, and she was left in darkness. She slapped her hands on the handles to the twin doors and began yanking, only to hear the clinking of the locks, stubbornly holding the doors in place.
"No!" Ib wailed. Ibs eyes began to desperately search the room again, as if the people who were in it would re-appear. Then an idea flashed across her mind..'That painting...All of this started when I touched it...maybe if I touch it again, everything will go back to normal!' Ib thought, and dashed back up to the second floor and into the hallway where the painting was. She tripped on the way there, but quickly regained herself. Ibs ears rung and her heart beat faster when she heard wet, floppy footsteps coming from all around. She took a moment to calm herself down, even she knew that to panic would solve nothing, and it wouldn't get her anywhere. Once she was finally able to stand without her legs shaking under her, she continued on.
"This sure is crazy.." Ib told herself.
"But what I want to know is whats really going on..This all happened to fast for it to be some crazy prank."
She sighed, and searched the painting for any type of clue she could find. Unfortunately all she found was some blue paint smudged on the wall.
"That wasn't there before.." The closer Ib got to the paint, the more words, that were somehow written in it, she could read. This was the first time Ib had ever been to an art gallery, and it was turning out to be the worst. What could have made this happen to her? Where were her parents? Why were the entrance doors suddenly locked? So many questions raced through her mind. So many questions that seemed impossible to answer. Ib began to read the text out loud.
"Come down Ib...Come down below and play with us.." The words that came out of her mouth made her shiver. She wondered what 'Down below' Meant? Maybe..
"Maybe I should go look around, I need more clues.." With that, Ib began to wander around aimlessly, walking up and down the staircase leading into the lobby, over looking all of her steps. Maybe the first floor had some clues for her? Ib shrugged and ventured forward into the first room she went into when she first arrived. She looked around and the first thing that caught her eye was the giant mural of the fish. The red ropes around the mural were scattered, and looked to be ripped up.
"Ah..!" Ib ran over and looked at blue shoe-prints near the edge of the mural. She studied them closely for a long time, before noticing the mural was...wet?
"Huh..? It's wet right here..." Ib set her hand down on the wet mural and, to her surprise, half of her arm fell in! She 'Eeeked!' in shock and tried to pull her arm away, but she was being sucked in.
"Let me go!" She wailed, now her face hitting the mural. It wasn't paint..it was water! What was going on? Her heart beat fast as she was slowly dragged into the water. Bubbles escaped her mouth and she struggled for air, gripping her neck with her hands as her face turned a slight red. Things got fuzzy and she stopped struggling. Her body gently began to float to the bottom, her face calmed.
Hi all! I really hope you enjoyed this, it took...so much thinking..x_x... Well, i could use a lot of help so, critics are encouraged! This is my first Ib story, and i really really hope you can help me improve where improvement is needed. Please and Thankies~
-I didn't slap you. I high fived your face. Sideways :-