Gary kissed the top of her head. "It'll be okay, Ib." "…! Too…warm…!" Ib slumped down in Gary's arms. Gary looked down at her, and gasped at what he saw.

Her left leg was gone.

My name is Wraith. It's short for 'Wraith of All That is True and All That is Lies'. It's a long full name, I know. Today will mark my 200th year alive… no, more like existing. I don't have blood rushing through my veins, I don't have real hair or skin or eyelashes…. I'm just a painting, after all.

I have three younger siblings. Damien, the hunter who's always calm. He's like the glue that brings us together. I hate him. Shouldn't the oldest be the one who brings the family together? Then there's Suzy. She's acts so innocent and pure, but she's really evil. Her insults sting like wasps. "Why can't you be more like Damien? He's always so calm! You're just another unfinished painting!"I hate her the most. Finally, there's Mary. She was the one person who actually loved me. She was so bubbly, all the time. She didn't like Damien either, so sometimes we'd sneak off and have fun on our own, telling each other our secrets and worries. And then… Father died. Just like that, BAM!, we got separated. Only Mary stayed behind.

When I finally found our old home, our former gallery, it had gone to shambles. The paintings told me what happened. How a little girl named Ib and a young man named Gary came in one day and killed Mary. I had never hated someone so much. But then, I found Suzy and Damien, looking for Mary also. They ran away the second they saw me. And then they died. Despite hating them, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I was the last of the painting children, as Father had called us.

Yet when I saw Gary for the first time, I was shocked to look how much he looked like Father. The same fading blue eyes, the rumpled purple hair…. and I saw her. How could this little girl be my sister's murderer? I thought. Then I realized, it must of been the man, who influenced her to kill my sister! But I swallowed my hate. This is destroying me… my sibling's deaths, these overwhelming memories… I can't let it kill me… The little girl, Ib, reminded me of Mary somehow. Nothing good will come out of hating her. I thought. So helped Ib and Gary. But then I met Ib in the World of Kyōki… and saw she was going to meet the same fate as me. Or will she go insane first, I wasn't quite sure. This was punishment for her sins….. but I decided to help her….

…...and in turn sacrifice myself.

Gary stared down at Ib's missing leg. The lights flickered for a moment, and Gary looked back down at Ib's leg. It was back, as if it had never been gone in the first place. Gary rubbed his eyes, and the lights went out again.

Swish. A gust of wind blew on to Gary's face, then he felt a sharp stabbing pain across his cheek. 5 seconds later, the lights turned back on. Ib was lying across his lap, a palette knife in her hand, dripping with fresh blood. Gary put his hand up to his face absently, and found a small slash across his cheek, stained scarlet. Gary pressed gently on the cut, pain darting through him. He put his hands into his hands, swallowing sobs.

Minutes passed by, a heavy silence in the room. Gary felt a small hand on his shoulder. He looked up, to see a strangely smiling Ib. She had black marks on her nose and mouth, and under her eyes. Her grip on Gary's shoulder tightened, her small fingers crushing into the bone. She said in a broken voice. "Gary….. I give you…..

Monster Ib.