Chapter 10
I approached him and gave him back his rose. He only replied with a weak "...Mmm..." However, he eventually picked up his head. Beneath the mass of messy lavender hair was the face of a young man, probably around 18.
"...What's this? The pain's gone... ah?" he muttered.
When he saw me, his expression changed to surprise and he gave out a shrill "Eeek!" and ran backwards.
His face turned stern and he shouted, "Wh... what is it NOW?! T-There's nothing left for you to take, I tell you!"
I was visibly shocked at his reaction and he must have seen the look of fear in my face when he said, "W.. wait... Dear me, could you be... someone from the gallery...?!"
I nodded and he came forward, very relieved. "So you are! Oh, thank heavens! There's someone here besides me!"
We took a few minutes to explain to each other our stories and how we ended up here.
The man said, "So I see... You don't have any clue how things got to this point, either. It would seem we wound up in very similar situations, I have to say..."
He pulled out his beautiful blue rose and stared at it.
"Even down to these roses. Wounds appear on me when my rose loses its petals... I thought I was a goner there... Thank you for getting it back," he quietly spoke, expressing his sincere gratitude.
"... Now, first things first... We'd better find a way out," he declared. He gave a tired look and said, "I think I'll go mad if I stay in this dreadful place for too long..."
"Ah, I still haven't asked your name. My, that was rude of me!" he exclaimed, showing slight signs of embarrassment. "Well, my name's Garry. And you are?" he inquired.
I told him my name was Ib.
"Ib... Ib, you say," he said to himself. He walked a few steps, then said, "I can't very well leave a girl to wander into danger, no, no. ...So I'll go with you! Okay?"
He turned to face me with a newfound confidence. "Now, let's go, Ib!"
We walked forward, but the silly painting spat out something that repulsed Garry. "HYEEEEEK!" he screamed. I went up to mock-comfort him.
"... I... I was just a bit startled! R-Really, that's all it was!" he said as he tried to explain himself.
"Anywayyy... Let's keep going, and watch out for such bizarre things as that!" he said, dismissing his fear.
With that, we continued to the next room. The headless statue was still there, blocking the door. Garry stepped to the side of it, and was prepping his muscles.
"What a lousy place for this thing..." he grumbled. "Step back a tad, would you, Ib?"
I listened to him and stepped away. "And... heave!" Garry pushed the statue, no longer obstructing our path.
"Ta-dah!" he said with a flourish and a bow. "Now we can proceed. All right, let's go!"
I felt safe with Garry. He's kind of like a big brother to me. With him, I felt like we could do anything.
We looked at each other, then went through the door.