Author's Notes
Hello readers! Annnd another summer has come and gone. I'm writing the beginning of chapter 6 from a remote beach some 3 or 4 hours from home. Luckily all my research and Fantasia outline are with me, so I will be writing Fantasia as well as working on one of my original series titled (tentatively) Red Hood. If you would like to read more of my original stories my fiction press account is under the same username.
This chapter, whew, I thought last chapter was difficult to write but...this chaper...this chapter is where a lot of the loose ends will tie themselves off. I've received questions asking about Edelweiss, Guertena, and Mary and if they're going to be coming back to the story again. Well most of your questions will be answered in this chapter. This chapter will also outline a lot about the makings of the gallery, such as its creations and laws. I will spoil no more; this chapter is titled "Portrait of Tragedy" for reasons that will soon be explained. Enjoy this chapter and hopefully if you've a moment to spare, leave me some feedback.
CHAPTER VI - Porträt der Tragödie
The room beyond the tetris door was white. There was no floor nor ceiling, nothing except the colour white. I stood on some of the colourful blocks as Garry took a cautious step into the white void, his foot found purchase on an invisible floor.
"Come on Ib, it's okay."
Dubiously, I stepped onto the white surface. It was a strange feeling not being able to see the floor, our bodies left no shadow on the ground. I turned back just in time to see the tetris wall rebuild itself and prompty disappear. Biting my lip, I gestured with a hand for Garry to start walking. As we began to walk, overhead there was suddenly a voice, a sort of narrating voice, detached and storyteller-like.
"In the beginning, there was no heaven nor hell."
"Where is that coming from?" Garry whispered. His gait slowed so I could walk beside him, his hand enveloped mine. "It's kind of freaky."
"Yeah...but it doesn't sound harmful."
"How do you know?"
"I don't...it's just...it sounds...lonely."
"There was nothing but Him. In the emptiness, he created a fabricated world and all life in it." There was what looked like a shooting star that flew from somewhere behind us. It passed swiftly over us and hit the white ground some 20 meters away. The light which glowed in the strange white room seemed to stretch and expand from the floor to fill the room. A ripple went through the invisible walls, floors and ceiling. Garry's arms went protectively around me; a yelp had left unbided from my lips when the ripple passed beneath my shoes.
"Whoa...!" The ripple left the room streaked with more than just colour; I could only stare around in stunned disbelief, my arms clutching on Garry's. There were pinks and purples against black, asteroids in dark grey at varying distances, colourful planets and further than they eye can see, a infinite matrix of stars. Almost as quickly as it came, the beautiful vision dissolved. In its place was what looked like one of the galleries we passed through, the yellow gallery to be specific.
"With life, came the laying down of governing laws."
Several of the paintings we've encountered appeared in the gallery. Among them was a wine glass that has a cushion in it, a makeshift chair. A dark silhouette appeared sitting in it. The figure pointed at each painting and each disappeared.
"These laws dictated the actions of each lifeform in the world. But soon, many grew to detest their reason for living and sought a higher form of life: freedom."
One of the paintings, a gigantic statue that I remembered from when I was young began to move. It was the solitary white statue from the room of liars; its marble limbs moved, raising a hand to make a rude gesture in the direction of the dark figure. The dark figure did not respond and the statue turned heel to face a new figure that materialised behind it. The figure was shaped like a man; in a fluid motion the statue picked up this new figure and threw him at a nearby frame. The frame did not smash but instead allowed the figure to be swallowed into its depths. Without looking back, the statue marched away disappearing into nothing. The painting's new inhabitant was banging on the glass hopelessly trapped. One by one, each painting began to disappear leaving only the black figure sitting alone in his chair. At last, he too disappeared.
"Those that escaped this world take the place of those whose lives they reaped from the material world and began to live their own existence blending seamlessly into the world on the other side."
A cold chill ran down my spine and these unbelievable words. Eerie as this voice's words were, I understood them all; that was what frightened me most. The scene dissolved away to show the marble statue again. He'd emerged from a painting frame wearing a suit and tie carying a briefcase of no little size.
"For all things in creation defy their Creator, none stand beside him for none want to be chained inside His world." The statue began to walk towards us but before he got close enough to touch us, the entire scene faded away back into the cold white nothingness. My body began to shake, a pending sadness was rising in my chest, threatening to burst forth.
"Ib...?"
I looked up at Garry and blinked back tears. "Mary..."
"Yeah..." Garry's embrace tightened. "This place...must be the origin gallery."
"The origin gallery?" I mumbled into his chest.
"I've heard of this place, there's a guy from the gallery of the forgotten who said he's been in here before." Garry ran a hand absently through my hair. "His name is Avery Beauregarde, a french militiaman. He's been in here since WWII."
"Damn..."
"Yeah, he mentioned seeing the "beginning of the gallery" before."
I pulled away wiping my eyes. "What did he think it meant?"
The violet haired man scratched his chin, "I should think it's obvious."
"You mean this is how the Guertena gallery was created?"
"Yeah, from blank canvas to life. Then from the gallery into the material world." He ran a hand through his hair. "I imagine this gallery is part of Guertena's mind."
"His mind?"
"Yes, question is, how did we get from the material world into his mind?"
"That is a good question, young man." I whirled around in shock, Garry's arms caught mine to stabilising me.
Standing before us was a man easily in his 50s. He was short, slightly balding and possessed a pair of the most intense beetle black eyes I'd ever seen. He dressed simply in a white chemise with a pale cream vest over a pair of faded pants.
"Who...?" my lips had barely formed the next words of my sentence before I clapped my hands to my mouth.
"Very good, I see you've already deduced who I am." The old man pulled a paint brush from his pocket. It was old and the bristles on the end seemed about to all fall out. Disregarding the condition of his brush, he drew a series of lines in the air. Instantly a black chair materialised in front of him. He sat down and tucked the brush into his pocket. "My name is Weiss Guertena."
"Guertena?!" Garry pushed me behind him protectively. The old man rubbed his short greying beard and did not say a word. "What do you want with us?!"
"Nothing, I just didn't expect you both to get this far along." Weiss Guertena wave his hand grandly. "I believe this warrants a prize."
"Prize?"
"Check your roses. I'm aware the recent galleries were not provided vases." I instinctively reached into my pocket and retrieved my rose. Ten petals were upon it, that was only one or two more than before. He'd restored our health with just a wave of his hand; any scrap of doubt we had about who he was evaporated like morning dew.
"You, you're-" Garry stammered seeming unusually timid.
"The Creator of this gallery, yes." The man almost sounded bored as he answered our unspoken question. "Save me the obvious questions and ask the ones that actually matter."
"I don't-" I started.
"Follow? No of course not. Why would the creator of this twisted world care to meet you?" Guertena smiled a rueful smile, "You're both quite the talkers aren't you?"
"W-why would you want to meet us?"
"Because you're the precious guests of my daughter."
"You're daughter?" My whisper was so quiet I wasn't even sure he heard me.
But he did, and he answered me in a savage tone. "Yes, my darling Edelweiss."
"Edelweiss!?" Garry's voice was high pitched and unnatural.
"Yes, that child sought to escape me like so many before her, so I thought I'd teach her a lesson." Guertena reached for the air behind him. His rough clawlike hands dragged wildly at the air and for a moment nothing happened. Then the white wall tore apart as if it were made of paper. The tears extended until the entire white gallery was stripped away like a canvas pulled from an easel. We were in a dungeon made of stone illuminated with torches. Guertena stood, his makeshift chair promptly vanished. It wasn't until he stood up did I notice the small figure chained to the wall behind him.
"Ib..."
"Edelweiss...?"
Her face was covered in tear tracks and her white dress was torn. Her hair that usually flanked the sides of her face had all been pushed to one side, the cheek not covered had a long bleeding gash.
"Oh my god..." Before I knew what was happening, my legs began to run to her. Garry's arms pulled me back. "No, let me go!"
"Ib! Edelweiss...isn't human..."
"I-I-" My calves no longer had energy, I sank to the ground but continued to grasp for her with my hands.
"What a smart man." Guertena said with a smirk. "That's right child, she is nothing more than an piece of art I painted given life in this world.
"What kind of twisted man are you?!" I shrieked, I was crying now, trying to reach the girl.
"One that desired power." Guertena's eyes hardened as he stared at me. After a moment, he returned his attention to Edelweiss. "So whose place in the real world did you intend to take?" "No one's..." Edelweiss sobbed, "I don't want anyone's place..."
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Guertena's wizened hand flew to his pocket where he pulled the paintbrush again. In a fluid motion he made a sort of whipping motion towards Edelweiss. She screamed, the chains around her tiny wrists rattled against the stone loudly.
"No!" My choked voice screamed.
"Stay out of this girl!" Guertena raised his hands to whip his again.
"NO!" I do not know how my legs received the energy to get up but I did. Breaking free from Garry's grasp, I lunged forward, throwing myself between Guertena and Edelweiss.
CRACK!
"IB!" Garry ran forward bit it was too late. The slap of the whip ripped a tear through my uniform. I satd own hard, a warm liquid slid down my back followed by a searing pain. I bit my lip hard causing it to bleed.
"IB!" It was Edelweiss this time calling my name. Shock was etched on her face as she stared at me.
"I-I'm okay..." I turned to face Guertena. "I'm fine."
"Why...?" The man looked down at me, his eyes cold. "Why are you protecting what you know doesn't, no, shouldn't exist?"
"B-because...Edelweiss is my friend." I turned to her and smiled, "I know she would never try to hurt me."
'Ib!" The little girl was crying hard now, tears splashed onto the stone just in front of where I knelt. Garry pushed Guertena aside and rushed to my side. He stripped off his jacket and balled it together trying to staunch the flow of blood coming from my back.
"You're okay Ib, you'll be fine!" His voice quivered as he murmured calming words into my ear. I weakly reached for the rose in my pocket. Five petals fell from the flower the instant I pulled it out.
"I guess...there is no replacement for the real thing." My eyes met Guertena's for just a moment. It was then that I realised what I was seeing.
"You don't want power do you?" The man stared balefully down at me. I could hardly keep my eyes open, my body felt sluggish and unbalanced. I don't know how much blood I lost but at the moment I didn't care. "You...you wanted to be loved didn't you?"
"What are you talking about, girl?"
"My name is Ib. Kusakabe Ib."
"What are you talking about, Ib?"
"I'm saying," I had to swallow to keep my throat hydrated. Fatigue had taken grasp of me and I couldn't quite shake it. "that you were never looking for power. You wanted to be loved didn't you?" Guertena's eyes were even harder than ever, but I knew I had to press on. "You...were never loved properly, not by a woman or a child...not ever?"
There was a moment of quiet. No one said a word, all breathing seemed to have stopped in the room as if waiting for an answer. Slowly the man named Guertena pocketed his brush. "What you say is only partially correct Miss Ib." Staring at the floor, he murmured, "Somehow I knew I'd tell you this story."
"Guertena..." Garry's voice seemed to gain power the moment Guertena put away his brush. I laid my hand on his to calm him. I wanted to hear what this broken man had to say.
Guertena looked away from us as he began his story. "I was born in 1789 in Italy. My father was a German immigrant and my mother a Sicilian painter.
"My childhood was uneventful, I did not stand out in talents or looks. It wasn't until I turned 15 that my mother died." Guertena looked up towars the dark ceiling. "An elderly gentleman had ordered a painting from her, a painting of his young wife Alcinia. It was unfinished at her death and with no choice, my father pleaded with me to finish it." The man returned his gaze back to my face. "I'd never wanted to paint before, it was always my mother's near penniless pasttime.
"So I took up my mother's brush." Guertena looked away again and began to pace in front of us. "It was the first time I had to earn money for the family so I didn't want to mess up. I went to the man and told him of our plight, he was a generous man with an enormous fortune; he gave me permission to sit in his drawing room as I re-outlined my mother's first sketch. It took me three days to obtain the perfect sketch of this woman.
"She was breathtaking. Alcinia was unlike any Italian woman I'd never met, her hair was a platinum blonde, coiled in tight braids on her head. Her strong eyes were blue rather than dark brown like most of the Italian women. I'd never seen such beauty before.
Guertena took a moment to take a breath. "She was quite young, only 22 and childless. I would be lying if I said I was not attracted to her. She too showed an interest in me, her flirtatious eyes would hold mine as I drew her body. It wasn't until the sixth time we met that she began to show her intentions for me."
"She seduced you?" Garry asked.
"Indeed." Guertena turned his black eyes back to us. "I had her right there in the drawing room; I was only 15 years old.
"Of course after our first...encounter, I was overwhelmed by guilt and quite ready to repent to her generous husband. I was in his debt, I could not fathom what came over me to commit such a crime against his wife. But she pleaded with me not to tell and of course, because I'd fallen so in love with this woman, I could not refuse her. We made love again and again, everytime I went to paint her."
"She bore your child didn't she?" My eyes flickered to Edelweiss.
"Yes. About two months after I'd been painting her portrait, she came to seek me out at my home. Luckily my father was not home; she broke the news to me that she was pregnant and the child was mine.
"I was in panic, how would we hide our affair now?" Guertena ran a hand through his hair. "She told me not to worry too much, that the old man had been wanting an heir for awhile but was infertile. This could only be a blessing for him, and because of his age, she was sure he would die soon enough. I agreed with her plan but inside there was still a sense of uneasiness in my chest.
"She had the child about 8 months later but unfortunately died in childbirth. I could never find another woman like her for the rest of my life." The weary man pulled out his brush and drew a few lines before him. The same chair from before appeared beside him, he sat down heavily into it. "The ladies in my portraits are based on some of the women who chased after me after I gained my fame through art. But none could quite compare.
"Anyway, our daughter was named Elenora. I finished Alcinia's portrait 2 months prior to Elenora's birth so I never met her." Guertena cleared his throat. "She died about 2 years later of Consumption."
"Oh..." Edelweiss behind me let out a sad little noise I can only associate with a sigh.
"Yes, Edelweiss is the child I thougth Elenora would grow up to be." Guertena looked up at his painting child. "You're beautiful and pale and look too much like her. I could only dream of what you would have looked like if you'd lived." A tear slid down his face.
"Father..."
"But." Guertena turned away. "Even you, even you will one day leave me..."
"No, father! I didn't mean to leave at all!"
"Edelweiss. I created you, surely I know what you want."
"No! Father, father I'm not Mary."
I flinched at the name but did not say anything. It was crucial that Edelweiss and her father patched things up without my interference.
"Mary...was a mistake." Guertena massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "That girl was based on my cousin Marea who was wild and carefree. I should have known she would try to escape the gallery from the start."
"Father...I never intended to leave." Edelweiss pressed earnestly, "I only wanted to help Ib and Garry!"
My head snapped up. Garry's coat left my back, my bleeding must have stopped, his voice was quivering as he asked the question that lingered on both of our minds, "What do you mean?"
Edelweiss looked down at us and smiled gently. "I was the one that opened the Fabricated World."
I felt faint, my body seemed to lose all the will to stay propped up. Luckily Garry was still very much alert; his arms came from behind me, bracing me and bringing me close to him. Carefully supporting me, he turned his attention back to Edelweiss. "Why did you drag Ib back?"
"Because I know what Mary did." Edelweiss smiled sadly. "All the artwork in the gallery share a collective mind, even though we have our individual personalities, we know what the other works are doing at all times."
"That explains a lot actually..." Garry whispered. I couldn't help but think that he was referring to when Mary overheard him talking to himself. She became seriously frightening when she realised he knew what she was.
"I couldn't bear to see Ib suffer so much when she saw "The Forgotten Painting" so I-I opened the World without telling you..."
Guertena's eyes looked dewy "But, then you weren't trying to leave me?"
"Of course not father..." Edelweiss was crying again. "What do I have to live for outside of this World? My only family is here; my father and my countless brothers and sisters..."
"My daughter!" The man rose from his chair. His tears were streaming down his cheeks as he waved his brush. The heavy chains clasped around Edelweiss' wrists fell off. As if she was in a dream, Edelweiss sidestepped Garry and I and reached her arms out for her father. Guertena swept the child into his arms. Unable to help myself, I smiled. The father and daughter were locked in a tight embrace, each crying into the others shoulder. Garry gave my shoulder a tentative squeeze.
"How do you feel Ib?"
"I'm...really tired but I'm alright." Managing a weak smile at him, I tried to sit up. But my body refused to budge, Garry looked down worriedly at me, his one blue eye narrowed as his lips curved into a grimace.
"It still hurts doesn't it?"
"Y-yeah..." For a whip wound, the gash felt exceedingly deep, as if I'd been slashed by a blade rather than a piece of leather. "But I'll manage..." Painfully, I raised myself up onto my knees with my arms behind me. Garry threw his jacket back on and stood up to offer me a hand, I stood up, still dizzy from blood loss.
"Ib?"
I looked towards the little girl, " Yes, Edelweiss?"
"Thank you." She smiled a radiant smile, still embracing her father.
"I didn't do anything though."
"You've done more than you are aware of." Edelweiss broke free from the embrace she was in and approached Garry and I. Garry's face was a bit twisted, as if he was considering whether touching her was a good idea. I elbowed him and his face softened. Simultaneously, we leaned in to embrace the girl we had come to adore. "Thank you both so much..." her voice whispered.
"No, thank you." I held her at arms distance and smiled, "You were the one who brought me back, and gave me a second chance."
"I wouldn't have been able to see Ib again without you either." Garry knelt down to Edelweiss' level, "Thank you for everything."
"And I thank you, both of you for bringing me to my senses." We all looked up at Weiss Guertena. His face seemed brighter than before as if a large weight had been removed from his mind; I couldn't help but smile every so slightly at him.
"This world has brought all of us to our senses." I cleared my throat, "I think we've all grown from our time here."
"Indeed." Guertena coughed, and gestured with a hand. "I apologise for your hard times in this World, and to the young man also I wish you the best." Garry nodded back solemnly but respectfully. "A private word I think, with Miss Ib."
A private word with me? I must have looked frightened for he smiled warmly and nodded. "Er, okay." To Garry I whispered, "I'll be right back."
We walked a few meters away from Edelweiss and Garry before Guertena stopped me. He smiled again as if trying to reassure me. "You've certainly left your mark in this world."
"I suppose so...?" Not sure what he was getting at, I tried to take a deep breath but upon expelling air from my lungs, my back began to hurt again. Guertena must have noticed my wince; he passed his hand over me and the pain lifted almost instantly. My fingers reached to touch my back; my uniform was one piece again. "Thank you!"
"Of course." Guertena put his hands behind his back, "Many portraits here know you by name. I too have always wondered about the girl who so intrigued Mary that she'd leave the gallery." His strong eyes pierced my face, as if examining my brain. I shifted my weight uneasily between my feet. "She was drawn I think, to your aura."
"My aura?"
"Yes. On your first visit you proved yourself to be pure hearted, willing to sacrifice yourself to let Mary and the young man with you to both go forth. Not only that but your creativity and love for art has brought you back here a second time. It goes without saying that you and I are birds of a feather."
"We?" I blanked, "But I'm not that gifted..."
"Perhaps you do not see it that way, it's common to be overly modest about ones strengths."
"No! I just...I like to paint, but there's just no way...this gallery is astounding, I could not possibly produce anything to even compare to this caliber!"
"Miss Ib, in time I think you will see my point." Guertena smiled weakly, "I believe that hiding behind your guarded mind is a passion that is just waiting patiently to be set free." His hand reached once more for his pocket, withdrawing the paintbrush, he handed it to me. "This is my mother's paintbrush, I would like you to have it."
"Oh no, I couldn't-"
"Please, take it. Consider it a fraction of the price I owe for reuniting my daughter and I."
"But that's your precious brush!"
"It is." Guertena rolled the brush around in his hands, "In fact it is the cornerstone to this gallery." He slapped the brush against his palm a few times, some bristled fells out. "But it is time for me to relinquish my hold on the world and let someone new create."
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
"I've been here, dwelling in my regrets for far too long Miss Ib. It's time I go and greet my fate, be it in heaven, hell or purgatory. This gallery and all its inhabitants shall fall into a deep slumber, never to awaken again." The man smiled. "It's a rest they deserve for all their years of living in captivity."
"Then everyone will die?"
"Technically speaking, I've been dead for a very long time." Guertena laughed. "The gallery's inhabitants have life breathed into them, life from me. Without me, they will cease to linger and curse the living."
I bit my lip. I'd never see Edelweiss again... A sudden thought occured to me, "Wait, what of the Gallery of the Forgotten?"
Guertena pondered for a moment before answering, "With my leave, I should think they will ascend to their intended final resting place. Of course, the few that were brought into this world recently may have a worldly home to return to much like the young man who is travelling with you."
"So Garry can come back to my world?"
"Yes. Although..." He smiled ruefully, "I have reason to believe that those who still have a home on earth may need to recall the portraits whom have escaped."
My blood ran cold. "Are you saying that if Garry wants to come back, he needs to seal Mary back into the gallery?"
"Not just him, but several of the other Forgotten too."
"But the former portraits will know, they must know to keep away from the gallery if they want to keep their freedom." I was beginning to see no hope for Garry.
"Well, we shall see..." Before I could ask a question, Guertena offered me the paintbrush again. This time I took it carefully and bowed to show my thanks. "I imagine several of the paintings miss the simplistic lifestyle inherent in this gallery, some of them..."come back to visit" so to speak."
A hopeful feeling filled my chest, "Then-"
"That's right. In fact, I don't think you'll be surprised to find out that there is already someone here."
"M-"
"Don't say her name. That will draw her to you. I advise both you and your young man to leave the gallery as soon as possible." Guertena pointed at the brush in my hand, "That will aid you."
"Aid me?"
"Yes." At that moment, the ground shook. Guertena looked around alarmed. "There's been a gallery shift!"
"What?!" I barely caught my footing. Garry and Edelweiss bolted to my side, their faces quite as bewildered.
"I gave you the pillar to this Fabricated World. That means this world is coming to an end." The old man suddenly looked quite frail, "Someone is in the gallery, someone who knows how this place operates, someone who is seeking your life." Guertena's eyes met Garry's.
"Ma-"
"Don't say her name!" Garry abruptly stopped talking. "You must all find the exit and get out. Quickly!"
"But how is M-, how is she able "shift the galleries?!" Garry asked urgently.
"A specific gallery has shifted, I believe you know which one."
"The sketchbook." I mumured in horror.
"Very good. That domain alone is her playground. Don't expect to thwart her easily there, you must be vigilant." Guertena put a hand behind Garry's back and pushed him into me. "Take care, both of you, Edelweiss, guide them to the best of your ability."
"Yes father!" The little girl seized my hand, I in turn seized Garry's. "Let's go!" A door that wasn't there before suddenly appeared in the stone walls. I turned back to get a last glimpse at Guertena but he was no where in the room. I turned to see Edelweiss seize the handle and turn it. Our legs crossed the threshhold before we started to fall.
