Scene 3
[Mary pushes the door into Ib's room, out of breath, and nearly collapsing on the floor. The door slams into the wall, and almost shuts from the recoil.]
[Her room is full of stuffed rabbits of varying sizes, colors, and shapes. Even her walls, with the exception of the wall with a pined window, are covered with posters of rabbits and rabbit-themed items, like dancing carrots and plush toys of people dressed up as bunnies. The midnight blue ceiling is covered with fluorescent stars which dimly lit the room. The circular light in the center of the ceiling is broken. Otherwise, Ib's room is generally tidy. Her dressers are neatly closed, her study desk only has an open math textbook, and her fluffy bed is perfectly against the wall.]
[Ib is lying down on her bed, blankly staring at the ceiling and ignoring the crash of the door. She is wearing a white blouse and red necktie with ruffles, matching her red schoolgirl skirt. Mary gathers herself and walks towards the foot of Ib's bed, and sits down.]
Mary: Hey... [gasp] Hey Ib.
Ib: Hi, Mary.
[She answers without averting her gaze from the ceiling. Mary takes a moment to regain her breath. She tugs on Ib's skirt to get her attention.]
Mary: ... Ib? Did you remember what you forgotten?
[Ib shakes her head.]
Mary: Well, the doctors came in, and it doesn't seem like they can help you.
[Ib continues to dreamily stare at the ceiling, although a noticeable frown has formed on her face. Mary's eyes dance around the room before spotting a couple of plush bunnies arranged on Ib's dresser.]
Mary: Umm... Ib, do you want to play with me?
[A moment passes before Ib nods her head. Mary scoops up the smaller mint green bunny and the larger white rabbit into her arms. She sits down on the floor and lays down the white one. Ib joins her, and they begin playing, having the two bunnies bounce around on the floor. There is a dense feeling in the air, but neither one of the girls decides to address it. They silently play, until there is a knock on the door. Ib gets up, taking the white bunny with her, and pulls the door fully open.]
Voice: Hey Ib. Is Mary in your room?
[Ib nods. The man in the suit walks in, tenderly smiling and waving at Mary.]
Man: Hey Mary. You two are playing with those stuffed rabbits I got you?
Mary: Yeah, but I don't think that Ib wants to play.
[Ib turns to the man and nods again. She places down the white rabbit upright on her bed.]
Man: Well, I heard from your mother that the doctors came. They'll help you remember.
[Mary drops the mint green bunny in her hands and runs to the man, clutching the base of his suit jacket. The bunny rolls onto its side.]
Mary: But Daddy, they can't help! They're going to hurt Ib!
Father: They won't hurt her! I promise you that, Mary.
[Mary loosens her grip on her father. He lifts up her face for her to meet his gaze.]
Father: I wouldn't hire them if they'd hurt Ib. [frowning] But, I have to have a meeting with them. [looks at Ib] And I need to take you with me while your mother and sister prepares the house for a couple of house guests.
Ib: [silently] Okay.
Mary: You mean I can't go?
[Tears begin welling in her eyes. Mary completely lets go of her father and takes a step backwards.]
Father: Mary...
[Their father begins to flip his hands back and forth, trying to grasp at the words to defuse the situation.]
Father: You need to keep your mother company. It'd be good for her to get some help with tidying up. She'll... like having you to be here, with her.
Mary: [shaky] But there was a time before me and Ib! Was Mommy lonely then too?
[Ib walks towards her, and gently holds her wrist. Mary glances at her, and then back to her father, who leans down to talk to her face to face.]
Father: Mary. [sighs] Before, I could stay at home with her all day long. But now, things aren't the same anymore. There's a lot of responsibilities that the grown-ups have to take care of, and one of those responsibilities I have is to make sure Ib is well taken care of, and that means going to this meeting with her. So, the least you can do for me, your mother, and especially Ib is to stay at home, stay with your mother. Understand now?
Mary: [defeated] Okay...
[The father claps his hands together.]
Father: Good. Now then, we'll be having dinner. I brought home some sandwiches, and your mother has made some soup. It's the type of stuff you could find in a café, and I know how much you two like cafés, right?
[Neither of them answer him. Regardless, he turns around.]
Father: Come on, you two. Let's go eat!
[Ib and her father walks out of the room, but Mary stays inside the room, her body drooping towards the floor. A tear manages to escape, slowly rolling down her face. Mary lazily closes the door.]
Mary: No... Then it's only a matter of time.
[She wipes her eyes with both of her hands.]
Mary: They'll know that I'm...
[Mary looks at her hands. Her hands appear to smudge, and the path her tear has followed unearths a canvas white pigment on her skin. Panicked, she frantically looks for a place to remove the evidence of her smearing. Spotting Ib's bed, she smothers the bed with her face and hands, though it looks like she bashed her head on the bed instead. As Ib's bed wrinkles, the white rabbit plummets towards the floor. She takes her hands and roll them first on Ib's blanket, and then on her green gown. She takes a second look at her hands. Her hands seems to have returned to normal. The bed, is wet, but not stained with the color of her skin. She heavily swallows, forcing herself to stop crying.]
[Exhausted, she collapses on the floor, leaning her back against Ib's desk and closes her eyes. A few minutes later, Ib walks in. Mary jumps up and off of the floor. Mary lets out a small, high-pitched squeak.]
Ib: ... Mary? Are you okay?
Mary: Oh... Yeah!
[She forces out a smile. Ib nods and turns around to the exit. Mary reaches out her hand towards Ib.]
Mary: Wait! Ib...
[Ib pauses, and looks Mary dead on.]
Mary: I... I want to stay with you, sis. I want us to stick together.
[Ib walks closer toward Mary, heavily examining her eyes. Mary looks away, but Ib holds Mary's hand with her fingers, timidly smiling.]
Ib: Together forever.
Mary: [giggle] Right. Together forever.
[She gives Ib a quick hug.]
Mary: I won't lose you.
[Ib returns the hug, and the two let go of each other.]
Mary: Let's not keep Mommy and Daddy waiting!
[Mary darts out of the room beaming with happiness, Ib following.]
[The mint green bunny and the white rabbit hop up back onto their feet, and bounces onto the bed.]
-Author's Note-
As mentioned, I plan to update this story about once a week. I feel like I want to get this story going, so my plan is to update it every Monday from now on (ignoring the Wednesday/Thursday initial upload), as I usually have enough time over the weekends to go over the chapters I need to rewrite. I promise though, moving forward, it will be every Monday. I don't think I'll be able to manage an update twice a week, even though I want to.
That being said, this is the first chapter that really had a massive overhaul, in spite of its length. If anything, its short length is a pretty solid indicator of that overhaul. And, just as a very small teaser, the next chapter's LONG length is also a pretty solid indicator of that overhaul. The first two chapters established what I wanted to be established, and I had to just change up some descriptions or bits of dialogue here and there. This one and the next chapter were... messy, at least to me. Maybe one day, I'll post the first draft, just to showcase the differences. Probably when I reach the point where the entire first draft has retrieved the full rewrite treatment.
I do have the next chapter just about finished (though, again, probably not gonna be posted until next week, for pacing). If I do get very far ahead in the rewriting (I'd say maybe four chapters that are ready to be posted), I think I'll be ready to start writing a new story. I don't think it'll be Ib OR To the Moon based though, so if you're interested in this story for those specific fandoms, I'm afraid that this story is the only one that will satisfy that itch, at least until the next game after Finding Paradise gets released or otherwise. This story has been written prior to Finding Paradise's release, so part of the reason for the rewrite is to take SOME of the newly introduced lore into consideration.
However, rest assured that there are a LOT of chapters that need to be rewritten, and eventually freshly written. How many chapters did I have on this story originally, before I pulled it all down? Ignoring the branching path chapters from over-ambition, there were TWENTY-ONE chapters, and a twenty-second chapter that never left my computer. So, this story is far from over (hence EXCEEDINGLY SLOW BURN).
Lastly, if you're still reading this, thanks for the support! Even the knowledge that someone's reading my six-ish year old story gives me a pretty solid drive to continue going.
See you in the next update! ^_^
-End of Author's Note-