Author's Note:
I apologize that this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones. I'm in the middle of working on a few other fan fictions to add on as well A Anyhow, i have a lot of down time this weekend, so i plan to have 6 (And maybe 7-8) done throughout. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to read/support this fanfic of mine ^ ^
Slowly, the man's lids opened, revealing ash mauve eyes that matched his hair. Looking around, the man seemed stunned, until he saw Ib. "Ib. . . Wait . . .Ib?!" he said, his eyes widening, and he quickly stood, trying to straighten his shredded coat. She thought about it, and slowly, she began to remember, the lost fragments of her past. Being chased again by the Lady In Red, finding the blue rose and the man in front of her…A girl with blonde hair being turned to ash. "Garry?" she repeated, at a loss for words. Tears welled up in the young girl's eyes, and she ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his thin waist and squeezing. "Ib? Um….that sorta hurts" he said quietly, and she quickly pulled back.
". . .Is Mary gone? Entirely?" Ib asked, eyes filled with worry. Mary was a painting who'd posed as a young girl to try and take the place of someone else in the real world. She'd tried to kill Garry, and nearly succeeded. With a small nod, Garry smiled. "Completely, no need to worry." And with that, Ib let out a large sigh of relief. "Now…." Garry paused taking another look to Ib and his eyes widened again. "Wait! Ib, you've grown! How long have I been stuck in here?" he asked, anxious. "I'm sixteen now. . ." Ib said quietly. "S-sixteen! But…that means…..I've been in here for over five years?!" Garry once again seemed panicked, and slowly nodded.
Garry took a look around, he seemed even more worried than the still much younger Ib. His worry quickly disappeared, and he sighed. "Well, I guess we just have to give this whole nightmare another go?" He asked, knowing there wasn't much of another choice. "Yeah" Ib agreed, looking around once more, for good measure. Without another word, the two of them began to walk, deeper into the fabricated world. Ib noticed the blue roses hadn't formed around the sides of the other paths, and it made her feel a little better. "Garry…Do you still have your rose?" Ib thought, the memory of Mary ripping his rose petal from petal slid into her head like a steel knife. He looked around, and finally produced a rose, this one just barely in bloom. "Hmm….that's odd…. I thought Mary had taken it. . ." He thought aloud.
Ib had as well, the entire event now painfully burned into her mind. "I'd forgotten. . ." the young girl muttered. Garry, oblivious to her comment, briskly walked a few steps ahead, clearly anxious to leave the nightmare that was this odd world, and frankly, Ib couldn't blame him. If her memories were true, they'd been through a LOT last time, and having met The Lady In Red, she suspected they needed to hurry, or even more terrors could appear. With a shudder from the thought, Ib quickly caught up with him, trying to push the thought out of her head once again.