Chapter 1
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"-And make sure not to touch anything or disturb the other guests!" The teacher gave directions to her students before they scampered off in different directions around the gallery. "And be back here in about two hours!"

For their class trip, the fifth grade decided to go to Guertena's art gallery that opened a little over a year before. The teacher was obsessed with art, so since this would be her last year teaching, they decided to go to a place that she and the students would like. Though some of them would probably be satisfied with simply going out for a walk, as long as they got out of class.

There was a group of three that just kind of lingered near the front at first, moving slowly. One of them had long black hair that came more than half way down her back with dark brown, almost black eyes. The tallest and only male of the group had blonde hair that curled around his ears and bright green eyes. The shortest of them who seemed to have little to no expression at most times had hair that came just past her shoulders with crimson red eyes.

The blonde, Cecil, was the only one that actually spoke up. The shortest, Ib, usually kept to herself, and the other, Layla, always spoke quietly, due to the fact that she didn't think her high pitched voice suited her (but she was gradually getting over this). So he was the one leading the group around the exhibit. They'd stop and talk about certain paintings that they liked, leave a few comments on the sculptures. Everything was great.

Until they came to a portrait, depicting a man sleeping with his back to a wall, slumped over a bit. 'Forgotten Portrait' it was titled.

Two of them thought nothing much of it. That it was just another well done painting. Layla even thought the man looked pretty attractive. But Ib, on the other hand, looked at it like it showed some mulled body.

Her two friends looked at her in worry before Cecil asked, "Hey, Ib... Are you okay?" He reached out to her, but before he could touch her, a single tear fell from her cheek. She brought her hand to her face where it was now wet, then looked at her fingers. Surprised that she had shed a tear, her eyes widened.

"Ib, why are you crying?" Layla asked, slightly alarmed," You're not hurt, are you?"

The girl shakes her head before replying, "No... I... Don't know why..."

"Well, c'mon!" Cecil exclaimed, grabbing hold of the other's arms and pulling them along, "There's plenty of other things left to be seen. No need to stay and look at one depressing one."

They continued through the gallery. Cecil really liked the 'Uh' statue [A/N: I'd explain this one, but I don't really know how]. Ib found 'The Lady in Red' (a painting of exactly what the name says) slightly terrifying, like something from one of her nightmares. Layla loved 'Embodiment of the Spirit', a giant rose statue, and 'Marvelous Night' a painting of a star-y night sky. Finally, they came to a giant mural titled 'Fabricated World'.

"It looks like a mess to me..." Layla said, folding her arms.

"I think it's kind of pretty." Cecil commented, "What do you think, Ib?"

The girl thought or a moment, studying every detail about the painting. Though her parents took her to this same museum, that was back when it opened about a year ago, she couldn't really remember all the details. So really, coming here was like seeing everything for the first time again, with a bit of familiarities.

There was something about this particular painting that seemed even more familiar and scary than the lady in red painting, but she couldn't pinpoint what about it or why she felt this way. "Well... I think it's a bit of all of Guertena's works put into one piece." The other two had to look at it closer before they could see what she was saying.

"Well, anyway..." Cecil said, pulling out his phone, "We should be heading back. It's almost time to go."

The three turned and left in the opposite direction that they came, that way they could take a quick look at the few exhibits they didn't get to before. As they left that hallway and headed for the stairs, the lights flickered a few times then went completely out, leaving them in darkness.

"Someone forget to pay the bill?" Layla grumbled under her breath.

Downstairs they expected to see everyone waiting for them with angry looks for being a little late. To their surprise, there wasn't a single person around. There was also a slight sound of footsteps heard from all around them.

"W-what's going on?!" Cecil stuttered, feeling slightly nervous.

"Maybe we're not leaving, yet. We should find the teacher." Ib piped up. She led the other two who were starting to shake behind her. For some reason, she was more determined than afraid. Like she had been in a similar situation and needed to do something.

They searched the entire first floor, only to discover that they seemed to be the only ones there. They tried the front door to leave, but it was locked. So they decided to venture upstairs again.

It was the same as the floor below. No one around but them.

This time, in front of the 'Forgotten Portrait' there was weird creepy blue writing. They got closer to see that it read 'REMEMBER IB REMEMBER'.

Ib took a step back. The other two looked at her curiously. Her eyes widened in fear. She looked up at the painting and saw that it had changed. The man was no longer looking down at the ground, but right at her! His eye was a nice bright blue color, the other being covered by his odd purple hair. He looked even more familiar to Ib, now that she got a good look at his face. The more she stared, the more this feeling of guilt grew inside her.

Suddenly, she remembered everything.