Replies: Thank you everyone who commented!
Disciple of Ember: Thank you so much for the support! I will keep writing the best I can!
GWDG: Well, I'm, to be honest; I'm more of a Mary fan…soooo… Please don't hate!
MsNoOne: Yes! It's right here!
Ib woke up, head throbbing. She felt the back of her head, trying to find out if it was bleeding. But suddenly, a rush of memories came back to her. Not only the painting that puled her in, or her sister Mary, but also the whole trip to the gallery nine years ago.
But mostly…
"Garry? Garry where are you?" She hesitated. "Mary? Are you there?"
"Ug…Ib?" Mary mumbled somewhere down the hall. Ib ran to the source of the sound. Mary got up and hugged her 'sister.' Ib flinched.
"Um… You're a painting?!" She blurted, pulling away. Mary looked genuinely confused.
"What! Ib, did you hit your head or something?" Mary asked.
"Well, yes, but still! You're a painting and you never told me?"
"What?"
"You're a painting and you stole Garry's rose and-"
"Ib, what are you talking about? If this is a joke, please stop! You're scaring me!"
"Remember nine years ago we, or, I went to the art gallery, then I got sucked in, and then Garry was there and there were these roses and-"
"Ib!" Ib looked up to see Mary looking at her, worried. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who's Garry?"
She honestly can't remember…Ib thought to herself. She stared at the painting girl and looked her in the eyes.
"I know the way out. But first, we find Garry."
"Who is Garry!?" Mary asked again. "And where are we? And-Ib! You're bleeding!" Ib reached back and touched the spot where she had hit her head. Sure enough, she felt a warm liquid, and quickly pulled back from the pain. "Here," Said Mary, undoing the scarf from her uniform. She dabbed the area and tried her best to get the blood off. "Well, it stopped bleeding, but you have blood in your hair…"
"Here," Ib said calmly, removing her own scarf and tying it around her hair, forming a ponytail. "Now it's covered up! Now let's get going!" At first Ib was lost, walking down an unfamiliar hallway. But when they reached a fork in the hallway, a rumbling sound signaled that the wall had closed behind them. Ib smiled at the blue hallway.
"First, we grab our roses…"
After they had made it to the first purple room [1], Ib started to grow worried. But her fear was interrupted when a small girl in a pink dress ran into them. She had messy black hair and pale green eyes, which looked shocked.
"Other people!" yelled the girl, in which a man with lilac hair turned the corner. He didn't look too concerned for the girl, but when he looked up, his eyes brightened.
"Ib!" he said, relieved.
"I told you, she's not gonna reme-"
"Garry!" Ib said, jumping into his arms. The girl, who had now turned back into a doll, stood gawking at them. "Garry, I'm so sorry for leaving you here! I'm so, so sorry!" Ib said sobbing.
"It's okay and, wow, you've gotten bigger. A LOT bigger… Just how long was I here for?"
"Um…" Ib had assumed he had been counting the days or at least had an estimate. But looking closer, Garry hadn't changed at all. Had the fabricated world stopped time?
"Wait…" Mary said, "The Garry you kept going on about when we got here…was the Forgotten Portrait guy?" Ib looked confused at first, then gasped, horrified. The Forgotten portrait was an EXACT copy of Garry, even down to the coat. It was only then that she realized that Garry was not emitting any body heat. Quickly, she pressed her head to Garry's chest. Please, please, please! But it never came. There was no heartbeat. She tumbled to the ground, sobbing. Garry crouched down, still confused. He looked up at the doll and Mary.
The doll started laughing.
"Well, well, well. Seems at least someone understands the laws of this world. Now you're a painting and king of this world."
"I'm not a painting!" yelled Garry.
"Yes, you are…" Ib cried. "You don't have a pulse, your ice cold, I even saw your picture in the gallery. And..And Mary pulled every last petal off your rose!"
"I…I still don't see how I tie into any of this…" Mary mumbled. The doll looked up.
"Well, it does look like someone lost they're memories. Here," The doll handed Mary the palette knife. Her palette knife. Her memories came back quickly.
"By the way…" Ib asked, wiping away some of her tears. "What's with the doll? Is it part of the exhibit?"
"Huh? You don't remember the doll room, and you and Mary called them," Garry shuddered "Cute?" Ib did remember calling some dolls cute, but those were bunny dolls.
"Heh, about that... Well, you could say I'm a doll of many forms." The doll said, turning herself into a bunny.
"That's what I saw!" Ib exclaimed. Garry sighed, relieved that Ib hadn't called what he had seen cute.
"I saw her in her normal from. You know, red eyes?" Mary said simply.
"How is that cute?!"Garry exclaimed. Mary shrugged.
"Oh, and sorry for killing you. If it helps, I'm really enjoying my life in the real world." Garry honestly could not tell if she was joking or actually trying the cheer him up.
"Don't worry, Ib. I'm sure we'll all get out of here somehow."
"Nope, that's not how it works." The doll said, walking forward, back in it's green-eyed form. "I already told Garry this. In order for one to get out-"
"Some one has to replace them." Mary finished.
"So, I think we should go ahead and choose now, so there's no fight in the end." The doll said eerily. "Since Garry is being stubborn, Ib, why don't you choose? Who do you want to leave with?" Ib looked stunned, scared even. She knew it would come to this, but not so soon!
"Umm…I…I choose…"
And that's were this chapter ends! Sorry it was short, I'll make the next one longer! Peace!
MetaWolf56