"Garry?" Ib felt tears beginning to well up again. Garry sat up, looking as though he had just woken up from a long sleep. His breath came in heavy puffs and his eyes scanned his environment anxiously.

"I-Ib?" he said shakily. He looked her up and down, as though he was having trouble recognizing her. He reached towards her, looking as though he wanted to caress her cheek, but he pulled away suddenly.

"Ib, this-this can't be you?" he said shakenly. Ib looked down at him in slight confusion.

"So, you do know me?" she asked. Garry gave her a befuddled looked.

"Y-yes. I was with Ib in the Gallery. We were trying to get out. And-well, you certainly look like Ib, but Ib's a little girl." Garry seemed to be talking to himself now. Ib stood up, looking curiously at Garry as he pulled himself off the floor. He stared at her, and it was evident in his gaze that he was desperately trying to put the pieces together.

"Do you remember me?" he asked suddenly. Ib was slightly taken aback by this question.

"I remember Garry. I don't know when and I don't know how though. I just had this flash back and I could see us, but I was younger. I don't know if it's real or how it could have happened though." she stopped to think. "You remember me, right? But younger?" she asked. He nodded. "Then...have you been here all that time? It must have been years. If what you're saying is making any sense, the last time you saw me I must have been a little girl. But something must have separated us and..."

"You really don't remember anything?" Garry interrupted. Ib gave him a bit of a reproachful look.

"It didn't really seem like you did either until a second ago." she said a bit defensively.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding slightly frustrated. "All I know is that a minute ago, I was with Ib, or you, or whoever, but she was a little girl. And then I must have fallen asleep because I wake up and I see you, Ib, but you're grown up? And me...I've just been here. Stuck? Frozen in time?" Garry walked over to the steps leading to the little nook and sat down. "I must have not made it out of the Gallery...I must have..." he trailed off. He looked back at Ib, and his eyes betrayed the sadness he was really feeling- sadness for having missed so much of his life and only now just realizing it. "How did this happen? How am I even here? And how do you not remember any of it, but you remember me?" he asked a bit frantically. Ib felt tears fill her eyes and Garry's expression changed to one of shock and apology.

"Ib?" he asked, uncertainty still lingering in his voice.

"It's just. For twelve years, I've dreamed of a man with purple hair. That's all I knew of him. And I obsessed over who you might be. I drew you non-stop just so I wouldn't forget what you looked like." She pulled out her sketch book, tossing it near him, allowing countless drawings and paintings of him to spill out. "But I never knew why. Now you're telling me there is a whole set of memories that I am missing of another time, years ago, when we were here together?" she could barely make it through the words now. "I-it's a bit much to take in." She was still stifling sobs as she looked back at Garry, his face now pale with realization. She realized she may have laid a bit too much onto him as well. "I'm sorry." she said quickly. Garry hung his head between his legs.

"Twelve years." he said this a few times. "It felt like no time at all. I mean, I'm still the same. But..." suddenly Garry sprung up from his seat on the steps. "Wait. How did you manage to get back here?" he asked. Before Ib could answer, he cut her off. "No, this isn't right. You were supposed to get out! What are you doing back here? I'm here because I wanted you to get out even if I couldn't! How could you come back here?" he said emotionally. Ib could only shrug.

"I'm sorry. I really don't know. I- I really don't remember much. I told you." She said helplessly. She fell to her knees, feeling extremely alone and overwhelmed. Garry realized this and knelt next to her. He was about to say something until Ib turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his, their faces inches apart. "I'm so confused. I don't know where I am. You tell me I've been here before and some part of me is telling me this too. It all feels familiar and strange at the same time. Garry..." she said softy, her hand instinctively reached for his forearm. Both trembled as contact was made. "I'm so sorry." she finished. To both their surprises, her head fell onto his chest, and tears began to fall silently down her flushed cheeks. Garry took a deep breath, and gingerly wrapped an arm around Ib. She looked up at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Ib. This would be a lot for anyone, and it's almost too much for both of us in completely different ways. There's a part of your life you don't remember, and there is a part of my life that I lost entirely. And now, we are right back where we started. I believe...the solution lies in our escape. Both of ours. We must both make it out this time. And we have to keep our ro-" Garry stopped suddenly. Ib lifted herself from him, looking at him in curiosity.

"What?" she said. He gave her a worried look.

"I-I don't have my rose." he said, a look of defeat spreading across his face. Ib frowned in thought.

"You have one too?" she asked. Suddenly fear swept through Ib. She looked around for a frantic minute, finally noticing her rose under the window of the nearby room, about a foot from where they were. Ib stood up and walked over to pick it up. As she did this, Garry moved over to the drawings Ib had spilled onto the floor. He gathered into a neat pile, looking them over as he did. Suddenly, silence became deafening after a knocking noise reverberated through the corridor. Ib stopped right as she was about to pick up her rose. She couldn't be sure if she had really heard a knocking sound or not. She turned and looked at Garry.

"Did you hear something?" she said. He wasn't looking at her though. Instead, his attention was on the window. Ib turned back around to see a large silhouette of something peeking through the window. Another bang rang out through the Gallery, this time louder.

"Ib, grab your rose." Garry's tone was serious and panicked. Ib rushed in front of the window, plucked up the rose, and darted back out of the way. It was not a moment too soon either, as at that moment, a large hulking mass burst through the window, and hurled towards the spot where Ib's rose had been. Garry scooped up a shocked Ib, drawings in hand, and led her down the corridor to another door. They both burst through it and away from the thing that had attacked them.

"What was that?" Ib asked, catching her breath. Garry shook his head.

"A Lady in Blue. There are way too many of them here-red, blue, yellow, green. And they are vicious and fast. We need to be wary of them, Ib." he said gently. Ib looked around the area, trying to gauge the safety of it. "We should be fine here." Garry said, sensing her fear. Ib stood up.

"What do we do about your rose? Did you lose it?" she asked. Garry gave her a sad look.

"I don't think I have one anymore." was all he said. Ib felt a pang of shame rush through her.

"So, what does that mean?" she asked tentatively. Garry sighed.

"I think it means getting out of here is going to be tricky. For me, at least. It also means I don't know how I'm still here. Or what I have been doing here this whole time." he said quietly. Ib pulled the drawings gently out of his hands, much to his surprise.

"I-I just...You were different a minute ago." she said as she put her drawings back into her bag as well as her rose.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't seem to know what was going on. You asked me who I was and if I needed help. But the moment you touched my rose, you seemed to regain your memory." Ib rubbed her head. "Me too, I think." Garry leaned against the wall and ran his fingers through is hair in thought.

"So, I've just been wandering around here for years, with no clue and no memory? Like a mindless puppet or doll or-" he stopped, jumping up from the wall. "MARY." he said harshly.

"What?" Ib gasped. Garry turned to her in exasperation.

"Mary! You know?" he asked. Ib tugged at the ends of her hair.

"The only 'Mary' I know is my sister." she said meekly. Garry stumbled back a bit at hearing this.

"Your sister? Have you always had a sister?" he asked. What kind of question is that? Ib wondered.

"I'm guessing so, considering how I'm younger than her." Ib said a bit snarkily. Suddenly a dark feeling hit her in the pit of her stomach. "Although..." she started up again.

"What?"

"Well, I do have to say, or I guess I should...all my memories of her before I was nine are a bit fuzzy. In fact, I'm having a bit of troub-"

"Dammit!" Garry let out. This greatly startled Ib. "Sorry," he said quickly. "It's just, that must be Mary!"

"What are you talking about?" Ib insisted.

"Mary was the girl we met here in the Gallery. We thought she was just another person that got trapped here, but she was the one trapping people! She trapped us here. She tried to kill-" he grew quiet. Slowly, he put a hand up to the center of his chest. "S-she loves me, she loves me n-" he started to hum. "She killed me." he said finally.

"What? How can that be? You're here." Ib blurted out. Garry gave her a tired look.

"She-she tore my rose apart. Petal by petal. Slowly, salaciously, insatiately...seductively." he said under his breath. Ib could feel her face grow hot again, but not for the same reason as before. "I remember now." he continued. "The pain. The hopelessness. She tied me to this haunted Gallery..." he looked at Ib sadly. "And took my place in the real world. Your 'sister' is Mary. Ib, you must realize this! She's not your sister. She is some fabricated piece of sentient art that has been perpetuated by place to lure people in and devour them..." he trailed off again. "Now, I fear, I may be past help. I'm the fabricated one now." He hung his head, his messy hair covering his expression but not the teared that rolled off his face and onto the floor. Anger suddenly welled up within Ib.

"I do realize this." Ib muttered. Garry looked up at her, his look defeated.

"Y-you do?" He said in amazement. She nodded.

"I-I don't know why, but I believe you. I must believe you. I must believe every word of what you say. Otherwise, how am I here? Why am I here? None of this makes sense if what you say isn't true. But I don't believe that you are lost. That is something I cannot believe." Ib's tone was wistful and pining. She gave Garry a longing look. He smiled. "What?"

"I-I just can't believe how grown up you are now. I mean, literally, only a second ago, you were this shy, albeit determined, little girl. Now, you're a head-strong, driven, articulate, caring woman. Wait- how old are you now exactly?" he chuckled. Ib gave him a tiny grin.

"Twenty-one." she said sheepishly. Garry's eyes grew wide.

"Wow! Y-you've passed me up!" Ib frowned at this.

"How old are you?" she asked. Garry gave a tiny laugh.

"Nineteen." he then frowned in thought. "Or at least I was when I came in here. I guess now I'm technically thirty-one." he smiled again. Ib grinned back, and for the first time since they reunited, they felt an old, comforting feeling being around each other again, but it was interrupted by the Gallery beginning to shake. Gently at first, but it soon evolved into a massive quake. Paintings flung back and forth on the walls. Any mannequins or statues or sculptures that were nearby fell to the floor with massive thuds or crashes. Garry and Ib locked eyes. Suddenly Garry leapt towards Ib, gathering her in his arms, and sending them both hurling towards the floor. They lay on the floor, locked in an embrace until the shaking suddenly stopped. Ib looked up and found Garry hovering over her. They were only centimeters from each other. She was sure her face was red and tried to cover herself from his gaze. Garry lingered for a moment and then stood up quickly, clearing his throat.

"Sorry." was all he said. Ib looked around and noticed that it was not for nothing that he tackled her to the ground, as there was a massive chandelier on the floor where she had been standing.

"Thank you." she said back. She looked around. The corridor they were in was in shambles. "What happened?" she wondered out loud. She noticed Garry standing with his back to her, looking down the hallway, almost expectantly. "What? What is it?" Ib inquired. A long silence passed before Garry spoke again.

"Someone just entered the Gallery."