AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys. It's me. I just want to apologize about the long wait for the next chapter. Classes started up a couple of months ago, and my grades last year were dangerously low. It wasn't a great way for me to finish my first year of college. So I've been working tirelessly to bring them back up to a level that I can be proud of. Just yesterday, I've accomplished that, so I celebrated by finishing up the next chapter for publishing. I sincerely apologize for the delay.
BUT. Just because I haven't posted in a while doesn't mean I've stopped writing. I still have a bit of free time as well as some weekends to jot some stuff down. I don't have everything set in stone yet, but most of my ideas are in place, and I pretty much have the entire plot figured out. I just ask that you bear with me for however long it may take. Not a day goes by that I don't feel bad for not continuing and finishing this story that so many people seem to enjoy reading and that I enjoy writing. I promise that I will see this through to the end. Please continue to read Forgotten Portrait: ReCollection!
She's been here before.
Ib finds herself in a completely gray room. All around her, she sees gray walls, a gray floor and ceiling, and gray doors. Behind her is one of the doors. Knocking comes from the other side. Ib turns to look at it, and the knocking quickly escalates into a violent pounding. Ib takes a step back. Whatever is knocking, it isn't friendly. She turns again, runs to the other door and into the next room, slamming the door behind her.
The room is exactly the same as the last one; bare, except for two doors, and perfectly gray. Before Ib can relax, the knocking continues from directly behind her. She runs to the next door. And she keeps running, running through the same door and into the same room, not stopping or looking behind her. Finally, she arrives at one more door and opens it, arriving at yet another gray room. Only this time, there is no other door. But as she closes the door behind her, Ib notices someone else there with her.
In the middle of the room is a girl who is turned away from Ib. Ib can make out several features. Brown boots, a dark green dress, and perfectly blonde hair. Ib sighs a sigh of relief. She can remember this girl. She travelled with her, she was with her almost every step of the way on her journey, and now she was right in front of her. She wasn't just a vague shadow in her memories anymore. She was a real person. She was her friend. And she had a name. "Mary…"
"…Ib…" Mary slowly begins to turn around. But as she does, her boots slowly catch on fire.
"…! Mary!"
Mary continues to turn, not even noticing the flames creeping up her body and dress. "You don't remember, do you…?" The fire soon catches on the floor, and quickly spreads. Mary is now completely turned to Ib, and stares at her with big, blue eyes. "How you lied to me…how you left me here…"
"…No…" Ib tries to reach out for Mary, but the flames cut her off, making her fall back. "Ah! Mary…!"
"And now you're back…trying to save someone that you don't even know. Someone that doesn't eve exist anymore…" Mary, as well as the room, is now completely covered in fire as she slowly walks toward Ib. "What about me…?"
"M…Mary…" Ib scrambles back until she presses against the door.
"Soon, Ib…soon, we can be together again…" She opens up her arms. "Together…forever…" She lowers herself to Ib's level and wraps her arms around her. Ib immediately bursts into flames.
"Aaaahhh!" Ib immediately opens her eyes and sits up, and a hand reaches out to grab her shoulder, taking her by surprise. Ib turns quickly to see the man whose face is covered by a cloak.
"Easy, girl." The man says. "You're okay."
"You're…you're that man from before…"
"Yes. Are you all right?"
Ib takes deep breaths. "I…I had a nightmare…but I can't remember anything…"
"It's all right. You're safe now."
"S…Safe? Where am I…?"
"You're back in the library. Incidentally, everything else is as well."
"What?" Ib looks around to see that everything in the library was exactly like she had found it before, not a book out of place. She suddenly remembered when Guertena appeared and destroyed nearly everything in the room. "But how…?"
"This place…it's got a mind of its own. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it myself anymore. The point is, it was able to fix itself up quite nicely."
"…Ah! Miss Evelyn! Where's Miss Evelyn!?"
"Sh-sh-sh-sh…Miss Evelyn is just fine. She's right over there."
Ib turns to see Miss Evelyn sitting at a desk, her back turned towards them. Her head is hanging low. Ib immediately gets up and runs to her. "Miss Evelyn! Miss Evelyn!"
"Hm…?" Evelyn slowly raises her head. "Ooh…I fell asleep again…"
"Miss Evelyn!"
"Hm…? Ah, Ib!" Evelyn turns to greet her. "You're finally awake!"
Ib sighs, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness you're all righ-" Before Ib can finish, she stops in her tracks and her voice trails off as Evelyn turns to face her completely. AS she does, time begins to slow down for Ib, as she takes in the image in front of her. A large, clean scar runs diagonally down Evelyn's face.
Evelyn barely even notices Ib's reaction as she goes in hug her. "Oh, we were so worried about you! I'm glad you're okay."
"M…Miss Evelyn…"
"Hm? What is it?"
Ib hesitates for a moment, then raises her hand to her face, tracing the scar. "Your face…"
"Oh, right…I almost forgot that I had it. We found a vase with water soon after we escaped the Council. It was able to stop the bleeding and close up the wound, but this is what's left of it. I don't know why it didn't completely heal."
Ib sniffles, struggling to hold back her tears. "I'm so sorry…"
"What? Ib, it's not your fault at all!"
"But…if I had realized who they were sooner, I could have warned you…I…I should have…" Ib starts wiping away her tears, lamenting the fact that she hadn't a scratch on her. "You shouldn't have gotten hurt."
Evelyn smiles. "But then what did you do when I did get hurt? You decided to take the pain for both of us, and put your life on the line so I didn't have to. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I ought to be the one protecting you, but it's been the other way around this whole time." Evelyn starts welling up. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough before…and thank you so much for protecting me this whole time. I promise that I'll do my best to return the favor from here on out. I owe you that much, so please don't cry…"
She should be angry. She should be depressed. In Ib's mind, she cycles through all of the things she could've expected from Miss Evelyn after the Council, but she never expected this. The tears that were forming in her eyes finally come pouring out, and she wraps her arms around Evelyn in response. "Miss Evelyn…"
"Hey! This is all nice and everything, but we have some more serious matters to attend to."
"Hm?" the girls look over to the cloaked man. "Was that you?" Evelyn asked. "That didn't sound like your voice at all."
The man chuckles. "That's because it wasn't. It was my little friend here. You'll have to excuse his attitude." A little ant crawls down the man's cloak and approaches the girls.
"…Hey there."
Evelyn gasps. "Th-The ant talked!"
"Geez, after all the stuff you've seen, you're still surprised at a little talking ant?"
"…" Ib wipes the tears from her eyes and kneels down to examine the ant, staring at it intently.
"Hm?" The ant looks up in curiosity. They don't say a word to each other. They remain in silence, staring at each other for several seconds.
"…I'm sorry I ruined your painting."
"…It's okay."
Evelyn looks at the two of them. "Um…what's happening here?"
"Nothing that need concern you." The man replies. "But my six-legged friend is right; we really ought to get down to brass tacks. Now, I'm sure you have lots of questions. Now is the perfect time to answer them. On top of that, there is some vital information that I ought to share with the two of you."
Without a second thought, Ib stands up and looks at the man. "Who are you?"
"Ah! Ib…?"
"Are you the man in the painting? Are you the Forgotten Portrait?"
The man stares back, although Ib can't see his face shrouded in his cloak. "…I suppose I owe you that…little Ib."
"Damn…damn…damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!" Guertena takes his "throne" and throws it violently to the floor. He continues to thrash about aimlessly and angrily. "It's him, isn't it!? That bastard is going to ruin EVERYTHING! HOW!? HOW IS HE STILL WALKING AROUND!? He hasn't done anything for fucking decades! WHY does he choose now!? ...SHUT UP! Obviously, I'm going to handle this…" He closes his eyes to think. "…What IS IT!? I'm trying to…huh? …Heh, heh…that's actually a good idea. Yeah…yeah, that'll work just fine…" Guertena takes a deep breath. "Heh…you're not gonna get the one-up on me…old man…"
The cloaked man pauses before beginning. "Ib…I'm sorry…but I'm not the man you are looking for."
Ib blinks in surprise. "…What?"
"The Forgotten Portrait is a different person entirely. I'm not sure who he is, but it's not me. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Ib doesn't say anything at first. She looks down, trying to hide her disappointment. Tears begin to well up in her eyes again. "That…that's okay," she whispers.
"But there's a bit of good news." The ant says, crawling his way up Ib's arm. "We do know where he is."
Ib's eyes dry up almost completely. "You do!?"
"My insect friend here is quite adept at making his way around. He knows every nook and cranny of this world."
"I hate to toot my own horn, but it's true. Anyway, I know his exact location, and he's isn't moving from there any time soon. There's just one problem."
Evelyn sighs. "Weiss has him, doesn't he?"
"…Yes." The man answers quietly. "Weiss Guertena…"
The ant continues. "That lunatic has the boy's body encased in a glass coffin that he keeps in his room. We're not sure why, but it definitely has something to do with your rose, Ib."
"My rose?" Ib reaches into her pocket and pulls out her rose, examining each petal. Three of them are red and two are clear. "What about it?"
"That we're not too sure about either. What we do know is that your rose has more power than that guy is letting on. For some reason, the denizens of this world can't stand the light it gives off and aren't able to go anywhere near the scattered petals, let alone touch them. But other than housing Ib's life force, the rose is useless without all of the Red Drops."
"That explains why he wants me and Ib to find all the petals. This isn't just some silly little game to him. So you're saying that Weiss wants the rose for himself?" Evelyn asks.
"Precisely." The man says. "For what, we probably don't want to find out. Right now, we have the rose itself and most of the petals, and we're the only ones that are able to find them. We have to gather them all, and find out what its proper use is. Maybe we can use it against him somehow."
Ib places the rose back into her pocket. "That sounds like a good plan."
"Hold on, Ib," Evelyn says as she places her hand on the girl's shoulder. "How do we know that we can trust you?" she asks the man.
Ib looks at Evelyn with a puzzled look on her face. "Miss Evelyn?"
"Hey!" the ant yells. "Did you forget that he saved both of your lives!?"
"Don't get me wrong." Evelyn says calmly. "Ib and I very grateful for that. And the information you've just given us will surely help. But I've memorized every face that was in the museum today, and you're not one of them. How do we know you're not working for Guertena? What if he sent you as a double agent? You haven't even told us your name."
The ant sneers at Evelyn. "Why you…"
"Miss Evelyn…" Evelyn doesn't look at Ib, and keeps her gaze locked on the cloaked man.
"…Heh. You have a nice fire in your eyes." The man says lightly. "And smart as a whip to boot. I expected nothing less from you. You have a wonderful companion, little Ib. You would do well to learn from her." He reaches his hand into one of the folds of his cloak.
Instinctively, Evelyn moves in front of Ib. "What are you doing!?"
"Calm down, Evelyn. I just wanted to show you something. Here it is." He pulls from his cloak a beautiful white rose.
Ib and Evelyn blink in surprise. "A rose?"
"Yes," the man answers. "I, too, have a rose. Everyone in this place that has a rose is human, and are from the other side of the painting."
Ib thought for a moment. She had a strange feeling about what the man had just said.
"I've been here for a long time now. Longer than you would probably believe. I have my reasons for not telling you who I am, but you must trust that all I want is for you two and your friend to make it home safely." The man contemplates for a moment, then looks out to the vast corridors of the library. "This world has become twisted and evil. The world that Guertena had set out to create became a haven for insanity. It was not always like this, but the fact of the matter is no one, especially not innocents such as yourselves should have to be here in this place. Even some of the paintings have hidden away in fear. The cruelty of that man knows no bounds." He looks back to them. "I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to stop that madman and get you home safely."
Evelyn relaxes herself, though she still has a concerned look on her face. She looks at Ib. "What do you say, Ib?"
Ib thinks about what they should do, but she didn't really have to. "I think we should trust him."
"…Well, if Ib says yes…then I guess I do, too."
"All righty, then." The ant says happily. "Then let's get going." He scuttles down to the ground and begins to make his way to the next door.
"You heard him." The man says with a smile as he follows the tiny insect.
"Right. Ib, let's go."
"Okay." They both begin to follow the ant, but Ib stops. "Oh, that's right!"
Evelyn and the others stop with her. "What's wrong, Ib?" Ib ignores her as she takes off her backpack and reaches into one of its pockets. After a short moment, she pulls out a small card. "Oh, right! That's the library card that you picked up earlier. It's good for one book, right? Our books from before should still be at the checkout desk. Well, no sense not using it. A book from here may be useful." The two girls make their way to the desk, where the two books they had picked up were still resting. "So which one should we check out?"
Ib takes a moment and examines the two books in front of them. One is an encyclopedia of Guertena's works that Evelyn filled up from beginning to end. The other was a sketchbook that she found which was completely empty. She then remembered the strange circumstances that led her to the book. "…The sketchbook."
"Hm? Really?" Evelyn looks at the book strangely. "Well, if you say so."
The cloaked man says nothing. The ant stares at the cloaked man.
"Hey..." the ant whispers. "That book is..." the cloaked man quickly and silently turns to the ant. He raises a finger to his lips and shakes his head. The ant reluctantly complies.
Ib places the card on the desk, and it disappears. Then she takes the sketchbook and places it into her backpack.
"Are we ready, ladies?" the man asks.
They both look at the man. "Yes." They all continue walking together. Ib smiles, looking at all of the new friends she's made. As she joins the others on the way into the next room, she doesn't even notice a faint yellow footprint forming on the floor behind her.