A/N:Behold. Ib in a nut shell.

watch?v=28ThXXdPSUk&list=RD7uLmP-o0i5E

Leia covered by Nano

Follow subscribe review

Chapter 21:Begin Again

"...Every time I dream, I can hear your voice
reaching out to me as I keep drowning
In this heart, an empty canvas
I will blacken it with tears again...
Illusions that seem to never end
Falling through like an hourglass
Shrouded by all these mysteries
Warmth that feels so familiar
Heartless words that escape my lips
Laughter threatens to eat my soul
Fearing taking a step ahead
What awaits me is a future of gray
Praying to see an answer
Amongst these broken lies
If my words were to reach you
what would you say?

Scattering the light broken in pieces
Shattering the darkness from within
I can hear a voice as it grows distant
pulling me back into life...
If I were to lose all that surrounds me
If I were to find only a void
I would give up all my senses
Just to fall into your arms..."

"... Ib... Do you love me?" He rests his head on my shoulder, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger.

"I don't know." I really didn't. I don't know how to feel. What is love?

"Because I love you very much..."

"I don't know," I repeated.

"Hm... Are they messing with your head again? Changing the way you feel? I'll stop them..."

"..."

"I'll keep her safe. I'll never let her go. Not this time..."

The room we entered was wide and had numerous doors. On the north wall there was a huge empty frame, and in the middle of the room there were three large sculptures. One depicted a skeleton dressed as a king embracing a woman; this was titled "Tryst After Death" and was positioned at the top center. Below that and to the left was a sculpture of a pale colored rock, which was titled "Flexible Stone". To the right of "Tryst after death" was a sculpture of a giant wine glass being filled with the starry night was called Drinking in the Night".

It was around there that Seiran found a canvas, and though it was rather large, it seemed to be part of a bigger picture. It vanished soon after we discovered it, appearing in its correct spot inside of the empty frame. There was a lot of space left over, confirming my theory.

"It's like the paintball hunt isn't it?" Seiran groaned.

I shrugged. "It could be worse..."

"We'd better get a move on. This place is huge..." The doll muttered.

"What are we doing?" A sleepy voice mumbled.

"Gah!" Seiran yelped, dropping Red as he did.

"Thanks Master..." Red rubbed her head from her seat on the ground.

"Jeez. I would never dump a lady on the floor." I shook my head sadly.

"Wow... What a gentleman." The doll shook its head as well.

"I... um... She startled me? No wait! Really she did!" Seiran stuttered.

He hung his head apologetically. "I'm sorry..."

"Aha... It's fine Master..."

We decided to go to the first room to the left.

In a word? It was a dump. Sorry for the choice of words, but there's no other way to describe it. It looked as if someone had scribbled all over the floor; papers and torn books littered the floor. Aside from the mess there wasn't much, just a few old tools and a couple of paintings.

Seiran glanced around uneasily. "What… is this?" No one bothered to answer him.

I was about to take another step forward, when something zoomed past my feet, nearly tripping me.

"Hey! Be more careful! You're the one carrying Ib after all." Seiran glared at me.

"Sorry. Something tripped me…" I looked at the ground near my feet, but there was nothing.

Seiran rolled his eyes. "Sure."

The doll yanked at my coat collar. "You idiot. Check the room before you try going anywhere. If something big is suppose to happen there's always a warning, like with the guillotine.

I nodded obediently. "Yes ma'am."

"And don't tell me you forgot, because I've told you countless times."

"Yes ma'am" I repeated.

So I did as the doll asked and checked my surroundings again and, sure enough, tacked on the wall near the door was a lovely, big sign. It might as well have said, "Garry, you're kind of an idiot for not noticing me".

"Avoid red, chase black," I read aloud.

"Once again, I have no idea what they mean…" Seiran sighed.

I stared blankly ahead. I guess we'll just have to wait and find out.

We soon realized that the room was more of a maze than a room. There were walls that weren't connected to the edges, just to the ceiling and the floor. They were designed to block our view. Other walls herded us into making sharp turns, or led us in a circle. We tried going south first, to the opposite side form which we started. We found another piece of the painting, but other than that, nothing.

I tried taking Seiran's words to action, going out of my way to make my movements smoother so I wouldn't move Ib around so much. However I couldn't stop myself from flinching when a short yelp shattered the silence, followed by a loud thud.

"Master! Are you alright?"

I turned around, trying to stifle the urge to laugh.

"And… What made you want to walk into the wall? Judging by its reaction…. I'm not sure it wants to be friends with you." I told him between snickers.

Seiran glared at me, the edge of the wall clearly imprinted on his face. "I didn't walk into it. Something tripped me."

I glanced at the ground. There was nothing.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure."

Seiran looked at the doll. "No… Really I did."

"Mmhm…"

He turned around to face Red. "S-seriously. I tripped. Something tripped me."

Red looked sympathetic. "Shh… It's okay Master. Just… watch where you're going next time."

"No, wait look!" There it goes again! You had to have seen that!" Seiran pointed at empty space.

"Shh… Shh…." Red cooed at him, patting his head.

"I think he's finally lost it." The doll solemnly informed me.

"He's gone nuts that's for sure." I nodded in agreement.

I was starting to think that Seiran had lost all his marbles….

Until I saw it unnoticeable yet unmistakably there.

It zipped past us again.

The doll blinked, as if disappointed. "Oh? So he's not a complete lunatic."

"See? See? I told you!' Seiran admonished.

"Yeah… but what is it?" I looked around, but whatever it was had already sped off, reappearing at the other end of the wall.

Red slammed her frame into the ground with a thundering crash.

"I got it!" She cried happily.

Red held down her frame, while we crouched down to get a better look.

It was a stick figure. It looked like it was drawn in crayon, no bigger than six inches. It looked horribly smoshed, but still in one piece.

"Man… This place never ceases to amaze me…" Seiran groaned.

Is that so? I'm not really surprised by things like this anymore.

"Hey! Look, there's another one!" Seiran pointed.

It sped up towards us.

"Hyaa!" Red swung her frame in a clock wise sweeping motion, slamming the second figure into the wall.

"They aren't very smart are they?" Ouch… That's got to hurt.

"Yeah. It walked right into that one." Seiran laughed.

"You're one to talk…" I muttered. "What are we suppose to do with them?"

"Avoid red, chase black."

We all stared at the doll. "What?"

"I have a hunch that… we're suppose to find all of these little buggers…" The doll looked thoughtful.

"Oh. That's right. The canvas hunt." I completely forgot about that…

"So… What are we doing?" Seiran looked confused.

"What you've been doing. Catch all the black stick figures." The doll said.

"You mentioned red. What should we do if see a red one?" Seiran asked.

"Avoid them." I answered. "I'd… rather not find out what they do." There was a deafening crash.

Seiran glanced over his shoulder. "I wish we could avoid something else that's red too."

I laughed.

.

"I… Got it!"

"Yah!"

.

You know, Seiran and I have some serious communication problems.

"O-ho. Looks like you missed, Orange Top. " The doll laughed, looking down at us.

I mean would it kill you to say, "Hey, I'll get this one." BEFORE you dive for it? That way we won't keep crashing into each other.

"Damn it…" He groaned. "Ow…" Seiran let his head thud to the ground.

I pushed myself off the ground, loosening my grip on the poor thing. I probably strangled it half to death…

I handed the stick figure to Red, who was in charge of hanging onto all of them.

We had like… eight. I'm exhausted…

"Come on people! Get a move on!" The doll barked at us.

Seiran got up off ground and slunk off to another part of the room, grumbling as he did.

I was about to start looking to when there was a quiet musical laughter.

No way…

"Whatcha doing?"

I turned around. Ib. "Ah…" I wasn't really sure what to say.