Ib felt the wall behind her. Her fingers scratched desperately against its hard surface. The girl inched closer to her, a palette knife in her hands.
"Where are you going Ib? Why are you going by yourself? You promised we'd go together…." She said tauntingly. Ib couldn't press herself anymore into the wall if she tried. Suddenly, she heard fiercely pounding footsteps approaching.
"IIIIIIIBBBBB!" he yelled, rushing in front of her. He panted but stood determinedly between the two girls. "Mary, what are you doing?" he said sharply.
"SHUT UP! You should have stayed where you were!" she yelled angrily back at him. He frowned and moved quickly as she lashed out at him.
"I knew it! Ib….she's-" he trailed off as he continued to fight her. Finally, he punched her, and she fell unconscious. Ib shivered against the wall. He paused to catch his breath. He turned to see if Ib was okay.
"Ib..." he said softly. "Are y-?" He stopped, for Ib had wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. "Whoa, Ib!" he began to protest, but he could tell she was shaken and scared and appreciative of him saving her; he couldn't have known it meant so much more to her. He looked upon her and smiled understandingly.
"It's okay Ib…I'm sorry for getting here so late. Listen, you may not believe me, but Mary…she isn't human. She's one of Guertena's works…just as fake as the rest of this place…" he patted her head. She turned up to look at him. "So, you see? There is nothing to be frightened of." He said reassuringly, however unsure of his words he might have been. Ib grinned as a single tear fell upon her cheek. He wiped it away affectionately.
"It's okay. I'm here now." He stated cheerfully. Ib could feel her cheeks grow warm as he caressed them. He turned and grabbed her hand, gently leading her back through the door and into the room she had just come from. He scratched his head.
"I wonder where we should go from here." He said, looking around curiously. Ib turned and once again noticed that the mysterious red mist that blocked her path earlier was now gone.
"Over there." She said quietly, pointing down towards the narrow hallway. He nodded and led the way. They pushed past the door and noticed another statue blocking the way down a staircase that happened to be in the room. He looked at her and her at him.
"How many of these do you think I've moved today?" he asked her. She didn't know why, but she just felt so shy around him. All she could do was shrug. He grinned and pushed the statue aside with what seemed like all his might. He breathed in deeply. He seemed to be losing his strength, and Ib began to worry. He ran his fingers through his lavender hair, grinned and beckoned to her.
"Let's go, shall we?" he said cheerfully. Ib gave a small sigh but followed.
"The key is always kept in the toy box…" he said, repeating what the sign had read. He hovered over the open box tentatively. "I can't say I see the bottom….at any rate, I wonder if there really is a key in there."
"Wanna see?"
Ib felt a cold shiver run down her spine and suddenly felt him grab her hand before they were both thrust into the black abyss below.
She could only remember not being able to find his hand again as she dragged her sore and bruised body off the floor. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the light of the chamber she now found herself in. She suddenly realized that her rose was nowhere on her and that he was nowhere to be found. She could feel her heart sink and she began to look for both him and her rose. What if she never found either? What if this was all a dream and he never really existed at all? These thoughts began to send her heart and her mind reeling before she finally noticed a blue heap lying on the floor a few feet away from her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she ran over to blue blob lying on the floor. She placed her hand upon it and shook.
"G-?" she called out. It was him! He stirred and moaned.
"What happened?" he asked. Ib shrugged and looked up to see if she could see the top of the toy box, which she presumed they were now sitting at the bottom of. He looked at her and noticed how pale she was.
"Ib? What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him worriedly.
"I…" she struggled to find the words. He looked around and then back at her; their eyes met, and he knew.
"You lost your rose." He said gravely. She nodded. He sighed and sat up. "Don't worry, we'll find it." She nodded and gave him a small grin. She helped him up and they began their search. Before long Ib felt as if something had got hold of her. He noticed her stop dead in her tracks.
"Ib?" he asked her.
"Ooooooh, what's this? A present for me?" they heard a teasingly sweet voice say behind them. They turned and saw Mary talking to a creepy blue doll that was holding up a beautiful, red rose. "Yaaay, it's so preeetty! Can I have it? Oh, thank you!" Ib saw him turn pale.
"That…it can't be." He breathed. "Mary!" he yelled. He ran to where she was standing. Ib followed close behind, her heart caught in her throat.
"Oh! Ib and G-! Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked, tauntingly. He gulped. "But anyway, lookit! I just got this! Pretty, isn't it!" she sang.
"Mary…that…that rose." He stuttered. Mary looked curiously at the rose in her hand.
"Huh?...Ahhh! You mean this is Ib's? I thought I'd seen it before!" she said giggling.
"Mary, please…Give that back to Ib." He pled. Mary looked down to the doll that was lying at her feet. She grinned.
"Huh…? I wonder…"she paused. "Ib…you want this back?" she looked right into her eyes. Ib gulped, and her breath became caught within her.
"Yes." She answered softly. Mary winked at her.
"Well…..hmmm…..wanna trade G-'s rose?" she smirked. Ib froze.
"G-'s rose is blue, right? I like red and all, but I like blue even mooore!" Mary crooned. "See?" Mary pointed at the doll. "This doll's blue, too! Isn't she cute?" Ib shivered as the doll jumped for joy. She knew she had had a bad feeling about that doll.
"Soooo, wanna trade?" Mary asked sweetly. He breathed tentatively between his teeth. He turned to her and she turned to him, hesitantly. Their eyes met and suddenly Ib knew what he was thinking.
"G-…." She muttered breathlessly. He felt his heart sink.
"That's….." he stopped. He knew in his heart he couldn't possibly refuse. He didn't want to. He had known since finding out Mary's secret that if only one of them could make it out, he would gladly have it be Ib. However, he never thought it would actually come to this. He blinked and grinned at Ib. He had made his decision.
"Understood. Please, give me Ib's rose in exchange for mine." He replied to Mary bluntly, holding out his stunningly blue rose.
"Really? You sure?" she asked, half surprised.
"Yes."
"Heehee….Yaaay! Pretty, pretty flower!" Mary squealed as she ripped his flower from his hands.
"Ahahahahhahahahhahahahahhahaha!" she screamed as she peeled off and out of sight. He felt a cold sweat hit his brow. He turned and handed Ib her rose.
"Be careful with this." He said gently. Ib felt herself beginning to cry and turned away quickly so he wouldn't see.
"I'm sorry." Was all she could manage to say. She heard him chuckle.
"Ahaha…why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong, Ib." he reassured her. "Don't look so down." He said, once again pushing tears from her cheek with the utmost care. "As for my rose….well! We'll just catch Mary and get it back! Let's do our best; I know we're almost there!" he said, feigning a cheery disposition. Ib was about to object when the room around them fell dark. They looked around and noticed that all the dolls, statues and mannequins were coming to life and heading right for them!
"What's with these guys?! Stay close to me Ib. Be careful!" he said as he quickly grabbed her hand and headed toward the staircase he had seen Mary go towards.
Not moments after they had narrowly escaped the enchanted objects did they hear Mary's voice singing.
"He loves me…"
Ib froze, she knew exactly what Mary was doing. She wondered if he knew too.
"He loves me not…, he loves me….."
Suddenly Ib noticed that he was no longer beside her. She turned and saw him bent over, supporting his weight on his knees as if out of breath.
"Ib….sorry, but….could you go ahead?" he asked, trying to mask the sound of his pain. Ib could feel tears begin to pour from her eyes. He sighed.
"I'm…uh…..I'm sorry… I don't really know what to say…" he choked. "I don't want to lie to you….but I…..don't want to tell the truth either…." Ib looked away, she couldn't bear to see him in such pain. Without warning, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She turned back and found herself looking him directly in his dark, brown eyes.
"If you need help, I'll come running…" he said. Ib grabbed his hand back and held it up to her cheek.
"I…" she began to say.
"Go on…ahead…" he breathed. Unwillingly and with all the might her heart could muster, Ib pulled herself away from him and ran as fast as she could to where Mary might be. As Ib turned the corner and climbed more stairs, she could continually hear Mary singing, "Loves me, loves me not…". Ib sped up the stairs, hoping with all her might that she wasn't too late. As she reached the top of the stairs, her heart sank as she heard, "Loves me! Aha! Yay! Now I can…". Ib turned, but Mary had vanished.
Ib walked as one condemned to what little remained of his rose. Blue petals were scattered and nothing but a wilted stem was left. Ib snatched it up and raced back downstairs. She reached the spot where she had left him and there he was, completely still and leaning lifelessly against the wall.
"G-?" she called out. No reply came. She fell to her knees, helpless. She suddenly felt as though she couldn't care less if she made it out or not. Unable to help herself, she fell upon his lifeless body. She hugged herself to him and felt his fleeting warmth. She breathed in his scent.
It had been several minutes before Ib came to her senses. She knew he would not want her stuck here; that was the whole point of his sacrifice. Ib turned to go, but not before laying a small kiss upon his lips.
"Thank you." She whispered and gently set her rose upon his chest. As she once again reached the top of the stairs, she noticed a vase with some water in it. Half hoping, she placed the stem of his rose inside it, but nothing happened. She decided to leave it there; a tiny and pitiful shrine to the man who had risked his life for hers.
Ib didn't like the feeling of being without him. Even as the gallery began to look familiar again and she made her way upstairs to the huge painting with a huge name, she knew this wasn't right without him. As she got close, the painting's frame vanished into thin air and it looked as though she could jump though. She decided it was worth a try. She backed up and readied herself to run into the portrait. Her last moment in the gallery was filled with thoughts of him and she grinned. A single word could be heard as she entered the painting.
"Garry."