Prompt Word #1: Rose

Ib glanced down at the small, red key in her hands. The key she had gotten from a man lying down in the hallway opposite the one she currently stood in. He had been in a lot of pain, barely giving a response to Ib's calls. She even tried rubbing his shoulders, but he just pleaded her to stop. When she rounded the corner, she noticed a bunch of blue rose petals on the ground. They lead her away from the door that she was probably supposed to use that key on. Then the sight of blood made her uneasy. It was only a little, but it made Ib's stomach churn.

Her eyes set on the golden plaque on the wall. Ib's eyes narrowed to better read the text—she didn't want to set foot near that pool of blood—and saw that it read "Lady in Blue." She quirked a brow, when she didn't see the painting it spoke of. Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, she took the key and shoved it in the keyhole she had passed up. The room wasn't that big at all.

"Loves me... loves me not... loves me... loves me not," a voice repeated over and over again. When Ib looked to her left, she saw something that horrified her. A lady in blue—the Lady in Blue—sitting alone in the corner of the room. The smile on her face was so wide, she was nearly drooling. Whatever was in her hands seemed to fascinate her to no end.

Ib wanted to get a closer look, as to what she held might hold some importance. The painting lady seemed focused on whatever she had in her hands, so Ib made slow steps to her. All the while, the Lady in Blue kept repeating that "Loves me, loves me not," saying.

Suddenly, the lady's piercing icy blue eyes locked with Ib's crimson ones. Ib skidded to a halt, taking a single step back, still trying to figure out what the painting lady had that was so important.

"You.." the Lady in Blue pointed a finger at her, her teeth baring against each other. "You can't have him! He's mine, you hear me! Mine!"She tossed the thing in her hands aside and crawled towards Ib with unfathomable speed. Ib did a complete 180, nearly tripping over her own feet and bolted out the door. Slamming it shut behind her, Ib pressed against it with her back, putting a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart.

She almost felt it stop when she heard pounding at the window. And then she was positive it did stop when the Lady in Blue smashed through the glass.

"He's mine... mine... mine.." the painting lady repeated over and over again, crawling at Ib. She almost dashed away, when the image of the object the Lady in Blue had flashed in her mind. She threw it aside, so Ib quickly entered the room once again. She read in a book that the creatures in this gallery couldn't open doors, but she wasted no time. Ib made her way to the object and carefully put it between her fingertips. It was a rose—a very vibrant color of blue at that—but it was horribly whithered, with only one petal clinging dearly to it.

Ib shook her head, leaving her musing behind. Not even looking back, she wrenched the knob and swung the door open, dashing to the end of the hallway, into the center room. When she was finally in a place where she felt safe, she inspected the nearly dead rose. The bright blue of a painting to Ib's left brought her out of her thoughts. It was a painting of a fully bloomed blue rose, sitting in a vase. She got closer to read the title, "Eternal Blessing." Then she saw the vase she'd used earlier to return her rose to health.

She carefully placed the blue flower in the sparkling water, and watched how the stalk quickly regained its posture, turning a bright emerald green. The petals had returned, and Ib noticed it had many more than her red rose.

When the rose ? ? ?, so too will you ? ? ? away.

Ib didn't know some of those words. But she had a basic idea of what those papers were telling her, since each time her rose lost a petal, she felt pain surge through her body. Ib took the blue rose from the vase, admiring how beautiful it was. Then she had a thought. Ib made her way to the other hallway, and she saw the man from before struggle to get up.

"The..pain's gone?" he mumbled to himself. Ib got closer to him, and he finally noticed her. His eyes widened with terror. "EEEEK!" He jumped backwards, almost stumbling from the sudden movement. "What is it this time? I've got nothing left!"

Ib tried really hard not to laugh at the man's scream. She never thought she'd hear such a sound come out of a man. Instead, she extended her tiny hand out to the man, which held the blue rose—his blue rose, she assumed.

"This is yours, isn't it?" Ib asked. The man's eyes softened a little bit, carefully taking steps forward and plucking the rose from her fingertips.

"Y-yes," he stammered. "Thank you. Thank you very much." The man gave Ib a wide smile. She decided that she liked it.

First prompt word was "rose," so fitting for this series, haha. This story is just based on the scene where Ib meets Garry for the first time. Not all of these oneshots are gonna be like that. I think I really just wanted to write about the Lady in Blue drooling over Garry. Heh. Well, anyway, stay tuned for more! Thanks for reading!