Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, don't own Ib. I don't own any of these characters, at all. I don't own Heavy In Your Arms by Florence and the Machine, either, since the lyrics were used in the summary.
Garry awoke to Ib staring down at him, worry spread across her features. He was lying on the ground, a bit disoriented, and the only clear thing travelling through his mind was the irritatingly consistent pang in his head.
"I hit my head," Garry explained to Ib as he began to stand up. He turned to face her, and was a bit surprised by how pale she looked. Had she always been that pale? Or was it just the fact that they were in a darker area? "Ib, are you okay?"
She hesitated before answering, as she always did, but quiet words did end up escaping her mouth. "I'm fine."
"Ah! That's good, at any rate," he felt a smile spread across his face. There were a few moments of silence, until Garry began glancing around the area. "This place is full of scribbles... is this the toy box?" he asked aloud. Memories flooded into Garry's mind, and his theory was confirmed. "We fell in from the upper floor... after she pushed us... Well, let's look for the key and get out!" He was acting ecstatic in hopes of cheering up Ib, to no avail. Garry thought that was a bit strange; his enthusiasm usually had an effect of some sort on her.
He studied Ib once more, furrowing his eyebrows. "You look kind of pale... are you really okay?"
She didn't hesitate before answering, for the first time since he'd know her."Yes, I'm alright... Tired, kind of, but I'm fine."
So that was it, she was just tired! Relief flooded through Garry's system, and he smiled down at the girl. "Just checking. Okay, now let's go find that key."
Taking her hand, Garry began leading a path through the toy box in search of the key. They went along the roughly-drawn railroad tracks, avoiding most of those things until Ib stopped walking.
Garry gave her a confused look as she let go of his grasp, but his spirit soared once she bent down to pick something up. With a small smile on her face, Ib victoriously held a key, staring at it for a few moments – she was always doing that, Garry had observed – before hiding it in the sleeve of her shirt. So that was where she kept the things she found.
"Good job, I – "
"Ooh? What's this? A present for me?"
Goosebumps rose onto Garry's arms as he recognized the voice. He quickly moved to stand in front of Ib in a protective manner, and could just see the curly, bright blonde hair. It stood out in such a dark place, and besides, he wouldn't forget anything about Mary as long as he lived.
One of the dolls was positioned in front of the fake girl, holding something brilliantly red in its hands. Mary giggled, a sound that eerily echoed across the toy box. "Yay, it's so pretty! Can I have it? Oh, thank you!"She grabbed the thing, holding it close to her face and giggling once again. Garry squinted at the object, and once he saw what it was the shock of realization was immediate.
"That... it can't be..." But alas it was. It was Ib's rose, her lifeline, in the hands of someone that wasn't even real. "Ib, that's your rose!" Garry cried out, and grabbed the young girl's hand before rushing over to Mary.
She lifted her head the instant she heard their footsteps. "Oh! Ib and Garry! Did you find what you were looking for?"
Her voice was phony. Everything about her was phony. She knew they found the key, she knew they didn't have Ib's rose.
Why hadn't Ib just told him?
"But anyway, lookit! I just got this! Pretty, isn't it?" Mary beamed, holding the rose just out of their reach. Garry felt Ib's hand tighten in his, and released her hand before taking a large step towards Mary.
"Mary... that... that rose..."
"Huh?" She couldn't hide her devilish grin as she twirled the rose around playfully in her hands. "You mean this is Ib's? I thought I'd seen it before!"
She was lying, she was lying, she was lying through her pearly teeth. She knew it was Ib's. She knew it was Ib's and she was just playing dumb to agitate them.
"Mary, please... give that back to Ib." It was fruitless; Garry knew that Mary wouldn't give it back without a price. Still, he needed to at least try.
Mary's face darkened. "Huh, I wonder..." she turned to Ib, who had been silent throughout the entire encounter, even though it was involving her. "Ib, you want this back?"
What a stupid question! "Yes."
"Well...hm... Wanna trade Garry's rose?"
Garry froze. He knew that Mary had it out for him... but to steal his life, literally? He remembered when Ib had first found him, when he was still suffering from his rose having been wrecked by the Lady in Blue.
"Garry's rose is blue, right? I like red and all, but I like blue even more!"
He remembered the pain so vividly... Giving his rose to Mary was almost certain death.
"See? This doll's blue, too! Isn't she cute?"
But imagining Ib going through that same pain... imagining Mary killing her, even...
"And I know Ib likes cute things!"
No, he wouldn't let that happen.
Abruptly, Mary's tone lost it's playfulness since she realized neither of them were replying. "So? Wanna trade?"
Garry turned to face Ib at the exact same time she turned to face him. Garry opened his mouth, prepared to give her an everything will be alright talk when Ib quickly took a few steps forward, standing right in front of Mary.
"No, we do not want to trade." Ib's words were rushed, though her voice soft as always.
"Ib, what are you doing?!" Garry shouted, running over to Mary and offering his rose with trembling hands. "P-please, Mary, take mine... instead of Ib's... please?"
A smile stretched across her face. "Sorry, Garry, too late!" she let out an insane laugh before running off deeper inside the toy box, Ib's rose locked in her hands.
Taking a deep breath, Garry slowly turned around to face Ib. He knelt down to her height, trying to think of what to say.
"Are you mad?" Ib asked. Garry examined her face and found the sadness swimming in her eyes, maybe from the fact that her life was in the hands of someone who wanted her dead, maybe because she was legitimately afraid he was mad at her.
"No, of course not," he responded, forcing a sad smile. "But, Ib, you should have let me trade."
"No." Ib spoke firmly, the first time he'd ever heard her speak somewhat loudly. "You've been keeping me safe this entire time – I-I need to repay you..." It made sense, in a child's sort of way.
Ib stared at the ground, but lifted her head to say two more words. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." Garry said. "We're going to go get your rose back, okay? Everything's going to be okay, I promise." Ib nodded, taking his hand once again as they prepared to run to the building in the direction Mary went.
But then, the things began to glow.
"Wh-what?" Garry stuttered, unsure of what was happening. The ground shook as if in an earthquake, but Garry didn't want to wait to find out what was happening. He started sprinting, Ib running beside him, as everything around them came to life. They made it into the building before the terrifying things got too vicious, and paused once they made it in, to catch their breaths.
Once the two were in their minds again, they began to move along, Garry leading and Ib lagging behind a bit. It wasn't long before they had to stop, however, since Garry caught sight of something that sent chills down his spine.
A red rose petal on the ground, obviously torn off from an actual rose.
"Loves me..."
Garry kept on walking, trying his best to ignore the terrible sinking feeling in his stomach, but halted once he realized Ib wasn't following him.
He spun around and saw her staring, wide-eyed, at something on the ground. Slowly, he stalked over to her, and had to swallow his own vomit once he saw it was yet another rose petal.
"Loves me not..."
"It's okay, Ib, everything's okay..." Garry murmured the most comforting words he could conjure up, but it was as if Ib didn't even hear him. Her gaze was fixed on the petal for a few long moments until Garry began leading her through the building again.
And then, not even five steps later, they came across another red petal.
"Loves me..."
Garry was going to keep on walking, as he had before, but Ib's absence stopped him.
"Ib, are y – Ib!" He rushed over to the small girl, who was kneeling on the ground, looking as if she could hardly manage to support herself. "Ib? Are you alright? What's wrong? Ib? Speak to me! Ib, what's wrong?!" She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide with something – fear? Shock? Garry couldn't tell – Ib raised her trembling head to look at Garry, swallowing her saliva before she spoke.
"I-it's everything. Everything h-hurts."
Garry felt as if something was weighing him down, something very heavy. Heavy. Yes, he felt heavy.
Ib collapsed on the ground, leaning on her right side. Garry re-positioned her so she was lying on her back; he thought that might be a bit more comfortable.
"It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
He wasn't lying. He was going to go find the rose and he was going to put it in a vase and Ib was going to be good as new. She was only nine years old; Ib had a very long, wonderful life ahead of her.
"I'm going to go get your rose, alright?" Garry said, not waiting for a response. He stood up and was about to set off when a shaky hand gently tugged on the bottom of his jacket. He faced Ib again, wondering why she wasn't letting him leave. "Ib, I have to go right now if I want to get there in time. Mary's fast, you know."
A tear rolled down Ib's ghostly-white cheek, her breathing now shallow. "D-don't leave, pl-please." And then Garry accepted it.
Ib's last few minutes were quiet, her hand wrapped in Garry's as he mumbled things to her. She didn't say anything back because she couldn't, Garry assumed that the pain was too much to speak.
"You're an extraordinary, brilliant little girl, you know." Garry said as Ib's grip on his hand loosened. He stared at her for a second, taking in the unusually pale features, the tears dripping down her cheeks... "You're so, so, so special, Ib... I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this, you really don't..." Ib's shallow breathing stopped. For good.
Garry let out a sob as he stared down at the corpse, and soon had to tear his eyes away from it.
"I'm so sorry, Ib... so sorry..." he whispered to himself as he began to continue walking ahead. Mary had killed Ib. Mary had taken the life of an innocent nine-year-old – and for what? Just to screw with him?
She was a child and now she was dead.
Mary was not going to get away with this. Garry would burn her to the ground if he had to. For Ib.
This is my first Ib fanfic :) It's just how the story could have possibly gone if a few different things had happened.
I hope you enjoyed it! Review, if you'd like.
Thanks for reading :)