The Forgotten Portrait
I don't own any of the characters in this story nor the game. I own only my imagination.
She was frightened. Ib and Garry had just passed her, hanging by her ankle from a cord in the black abyss. She stopped and stared, unsure of what is meant, but she knew it was her. "Ib, what is it? Do you see something?" Garry inspected the general area the young brunette girl was scrutinizing so nervously. Realizing that her friend didn't see it Ib walked on from the spot, glancing back to make sure it was still there.
After watering the tulip and plucking the Gallery key from the center, they traversed to the Gallery. Inside, the two observed the scrawlings on the wall. There was Garry standing next to Ib. He was frowning and looking at his blue rose; a single delicate petal had fallen to the ground. Beside Garry, Ib was smiling and holding her rose happily. On the other side of the mock gallery gleefully stand Mary and one of the blue dolls. It was almost disturbing how happy they were. After looking over the strange drawings, they finally moved to the metal cube sitting on the floor. Above it read in scribbled words "Pandora's box". Ib could've sworn she read a story about that box, and when you opened it bad things happened. Oh well, she thought. The young girl lifted her skirt slightly as if to curtsy, and kneeled in front of the small steel chest. As she pulled the hatch and swung the top up to rest against the wall, suddenly bright symbols flew out and formed a circle. Just as suddenly, they shot out of the Gallery, leaving Garry and Ib to confusion. "...Oh. There's something left in the box. A mirror. Well, let's just hope it's hope!" Garry said with a grin. With confidence, he and Ib unlocked the other door and left the mock gallery.
Now, Ib was a tough girl, as her lavender-haired companion had commented before. She knew how to hide being scared, and she did so quite well, until the second hanging Ib came into view. Ib's eyes widened and she gasped, stepping back and covering her mouth in horror. She stood in front of the sign "Down to Gallery" and stared at the bright red lips with sharp teeth reaching hungrily in mid air for the girl now suspended my her neck. Not wanting to worry Garry, Ib swallowed her fear and walked on; not wanting to look back, but afraid to go foward. She instinctively grabbed Garry's hand, as she normally would with her mother when she was frightened. The lavender-haired man she'd come to know and trust looked down at her, with a loving look in his eyes, and squeezed it reassuringly. "Don't worry, we're gonna get outta here." They walked on, stood in the sunlight, melted the frozen door with the mirror of hope. The confusing puzzle took awhile, but they figured it out with spirits high. Grabbing the plastic key from the middle of the floor, Ib ran back to Garry. Again clasping hands, the two raced to the plastic house, and ran in joyfully. "All we have to do is get the key in the toybox, now!" Ib shouted, a silly smile beaming across her face.
Garry leaned over the huge, blue box; Ib soon joining him, both now uncapable of seeing the danger sneaking up behind them. "I can't say I see the bottom of this." He said into the pitch black abyss. Mary's voice crept into his ears, and in an instant, he fell into the infinite darkness, crying out to Ib. To awaken in darkness, surrounded by dolls and unnerving mannequins and other deranged objects, is like a horror movie. You're afraid to move, completely catatonic, for fear that a doll or such will see you and you'll be hunted, unable to defend yourself and stuck forever in this hellhole. Of course, Ib had never seen a horror movie and had no idea what Hell was. Perhaps that's for the best, however, for without her courage, this innocent young girl unable to see the bad in people, could very well have been destroyed early in this nightmare. So, she stood up, noticing how much her body ached, brushed herself off, and realized she didn't have her rose nor Garry by her side. With a quick look around, she began to tear up. There was no sign of her best friend. Sorrow and fear began to wash over her and she ran around the large room, always stopping to leer at the toys and odd drawings on the floor. Not looking where she was going, her foot bumped into something hard. Ib immediately looked to her feet and gasped with glee when she saw Garry's light purple locks ruffled around his face and resting on the floor. She nudged him about until he awoke and got to his knees to stare Ib's stomach in the face. He joyously shouted, "Ib!" and got to his feet. "Are you all right?" Her small head shook no, and he commented, "You don't have your rose! Let's find it, and a way out of here." They quietly started wandering around.
A sweet voice broke the silence. "Oh, is this for me?" The pair focused their attention on the small blonde girl taking a fully bloomed red rose from the handless blue arm of a doll. It jumped up in the air several times as an exuberant "yes". Mary took the rose all too happily. "It's soooo pretty!" Garry dashed to the two demented creations of Guertena, and demanded Ib's rose back. Ib, who struggled to run with Garry showed up a few seconds later, and Garry handed her the beautiful rose back, all the petals intact. Ib, happy yet confused, looked for explanation in Mary's face, but found herself staring at the full blue rose clenched in the blonde girl's hands. Glancing up to Ib's eyes with a hint of evil lurking within her own, she ran off with Garry's life in her hands. "Garry..." Ib mumbled to her companion with tears threatening to drop from her crimson eyes. "I'm sorry..." She hugged Garry's abdomen, never wanting to let go. "Don't worry, we'll just catch her and get my rose back." He said with wavering confidence and patted her on the head, smoothing her long brown hair down.
Slowly, yet unexpectedly, the remaining light in the room began the color a deep blue, getting darker and darker until Garry realized what was happening. "Oh no, what's with the dolls? Be careful, Ib!" Suddenly, everything came to life and started running at them with expert speed. They deftly manuevered around the beasts, until- "Ah!" Ib cried out, a few petals from her recovered rose falling off as a headless mannequin clawed her arm and reached for her throat with it's next attack. "IB!" In one fluid motion, Garry swung his arms around this hurt girl he cared so deeply for, and carried her to and up the stairs, sprinting to get away from the creatures below. When Garry thought they had gotten far away enough from the monsters, he set Ib down. Then, he too groaned in pain, he could feel the petals being forcefully pulled from the stem of his rose. Ib opened her eyes and heard his groan. "I'm fine, Ib. Let's keep going. Are you okay?" The child was frightened but she nodded nonetheless. Garry took her small hand within his own and entangled his fingers with hers.
They continued their journey once more, until Garry grabbed his shoulder with one hand and abdomen with the other. Ib felt her nose burn and the salty water was building in her eyes again. "No, don't cry... You'll ruin your eyes. I'm just a little hurt is all.." They walked a little farther and soon realized why he was in so much pain. Blue petals scattered the floor and trailed up the stairs. The strong man with his beautful light purple hair, who had helped Ib through everything with confidence and love, collapsed to his knees. She didn't notice at first, but he called out her name with obvious agony in his voice. "I-I'm gonna stay here, I need to take a rest. But...if you need me, just call my name and I'll come running." He still had strength in his voice, though it seemed so fake. She kneeled in front of him, mumbling his name and gently cupping his face. "I don't want to lie to you, but...I don't want to tell the truth either..." His confidence was gone from his voice, from his face. He was pale, and she so badly wanted to help him...but she had to keep going. Ib hugged his head, pressing his face into her neck and shoulder, and she felt a drop of wetness soak into the collar of her shirt. With sorrow, she let go and kissed him on the forehead before walking off to follow the trail of petals ascending the steps. Garry crawled over to the wall on his hands and knees, and turned around to lean against it. He shut his eyes and pictured the young girl. The way her long brown hair swayed as she walked, the way her crimson eyes sparkled with joy when she found that candy in his jacket. The way he felt when he cried into her shoulder, sad, in pain, yet...like butterflies were roaming his stomach... "Ib..." His mumbled his last word.
Ib hid behind the wall seperating her and Mary. The rage boiling in her caused her to hold herself back from attacking the blonde girl. "He loves me not..." Another petal was gently plucked and floated to the floor. Ib peeked around the corner, observing the giant vines wrapped around the doorway to an unknown room. She watched over Mary's shoulder as her fingers hovered over the last petal. Don't do it, Ib thought. Don't do it, don't do it...! The last petal was ripped off, and Mary shouted, "He loves me!" She quickly skipped away, throwing the remaining stem to the floor carelessly. As soon as the blonde left the room, Ib ran around the corner and fell to her scraped and sore knees. She carefully picked up what was left of Garry's rose, and scooped up a handful of the petals tossed to the floor. Ib sobbed as she tried to no avail to reattach the pieces of this broken puzzle. Her tears stained the blue hue of his rose petals. "Garry!" The desperate girl shouted. "Garry!" She choked on his name as she sprinted back to where she left him, all alone. He lay sleeping, propped against the blue wall. She wanted him to answer, to wake up and say everything was going to be alright. As she once again knelt in front of him, she saw the shiny silver lighter clutched tightly between his fingers. He was still so warm... She began to pull the lighter from his hands when she realized she had no pockets and no free hands, she'd been carrying her hankerchief in one hand and the candy in the other. Her cheeks stained with tears, Ib slowly unwrapped the candy and stuck it in her mouth. She threw the trash on the floor and grabbed the lighter with her free hand. She dashed back into the small black room with Garry's dead rose and approached the bright green vines, intertwining themselves to block the doorway. This time, however, the vines were real, so with no other options, Ib fumbled to open and click the lighter in order to burn through the obstacle. Finally, the flame came and brought the fire upon the plant.
As soon as it looked safe, Ib sprinted into the room. She didn't know exactly what to do, but she heard light footsteps quickly advancing toward her location. Ib turned around, startled to find Mary wielding the palette knife. "Ib, what are you doing in here? You need to leave. Now! NOW! NOOWWWW! LLLlllEEEeeeaaaAAAVVVvvveee!" The floor beneath Ib cracked with red, and she again she ran as fast as she could toward the painting at the far end of the room and the only thing she could think to do was to burn it as well. The glass shattered, and the canvas beneath blackened. Ib again turned around to face Mary, but found nothing left of her except the knife and a pile of ashes. She calmly walked out of the room, wondering what to do next. She was inclined to visit Garry again, to see if his condition had changed. No, she thought. I have to find my way home... Ib walked on, now remembering they had gathered the pink key to the pink house down in the toy box. She walked out of the house, stumbling actually, and made her way down the pink path to the makeshift pink house. The key unlocked the doors, just like the rest of them had. A change of scenery had occurred. The walls looked real again, they- I mean she- had found the way back. A staircase lay in wait for two pairs of feet, instead only feeling one fragile foot at a time descending the cold black steps.
Ib had walked into in the Gallery, except reverse; the walls were black instead of white. She roamed the lower halls for a bit, then decided to check the upstairs. It was fundamentally the same. The painting that started it all, it was the only thing different. Instead of the previous dark painting depicting an abstract forest, a woman in red, and a red rose, this painting was all white with a person in front and Ib could make out the reception desk to the left. She read the title, "Fabricated World: " She didn't understand a couple words but she could make out that it was her way out. The lights flashed really bright, and then suddenly the frame was gone. It was as though she was looking into the gallery itself and not just a painting. She backed up to have some velocity when she jumped in. Then a voice called to her... "Ib..." It was Garry! But...there was something off about him. He wasn't in pain anymore, and he had a look in his eyes that Ib had never seen before. Somehow she just couldn't trust him. "Where are you going? I found an exit! We can go together!" No, she thought. And she jumped into the painting.
She found herself staring at some huge, dark painting, but she couldn't remember how she got so lost in it. It wasn't that interesting. Still pondering that thought, she left the sight of it and rounded a corner to see a simple, yet intriguing painting hanging at the end of the corridor with sculptures. Somehow this painting seemed familiar, but her mind couldn't bend to remember anything. It was called the "Forgotten Portrait" and was of a man resting against a blue wall, his skin pale and hair a ravishing lavender color. Her mother walked up the stairs, Ib turned around to the familiar sound of her heels and her calling her to her side. Her mother spoke of going to get a drink for her with her father and came to get her. They began to walk back to the stairs, but Ib turned around once more to stare at the beautiful painting. He looks like he's sleeping. As she was pulled away by her mother, a single name resounded within her mind. ...Garry...!
A/N: So, I'm not that active of a writer, but please tell me how well I did this. I literally just played the game and needed to get this out there. I'll probably be doing at least one more. Please, feedback!