It can't be…

He can't be a painting…

He promised he'd come for me when I'm in trouble…

Garry…

Bright lights shone on the ceiling. Did I fall asleep?

On the wall was 'Fabricated World', the painting seems familiar. The museum, this is where I came with my mother and father this afternoon. I think I remember.

I ran to the reception desk, but they were nowhere in sight, I kept running through the halls, my footsteps the only noise being echoed.

My body froze and my red eyes darted to a painting where I thought a portrait called 'The Hanging Man' was. I walked towards it. A sleeping figure. He was quite thin and his clothes were tattered.

"The Forgotten Portrait, huh?" The man beside me looked at the painting as well.

"They say this man was real and he was forgotten by the most important person in his life. He now stays in an eternal sleep."

This man, I remember he was not here before. It was as if the man in the painting was actually here.

I look around more and find a huge rose that looked too beautiful to be real. I tried to read the sign but there are words I don't know, I turn to the man beside me and freeze a bit. This man.

Isn't he the one in the painting?

He looks to me. "What is it little girl? This sculpture? It's called Embodiment of Spirit." He smiles briefly and leaves without another word. My head is spinning a bit and I run back to the Forgotten Portrait.

I pant as I get there, and the same man is still here. He's very tall and has the same shade of hair and even the same clothing from the painting. But as I look to the wall, on it, is a painting called 'The Hanging Man.'

"This picture symbolizes a lot of self-sacrifice…," he says softly. His eyes shift to me, "Oh, you're that little girl from earlier," he smiles and I feel some kind of contentment, "Are you lost?"

I shake my head but reach up to grab ahold of his sleeve.

"Ib!" My mother cries and I cease my actions before walking over to her.

"Let's go home now."

I nod silently and leave with my parents, but that man has not left my mind.

That night, my head is filled with various objects. Headless statues, dolls, crayon drawings, and paintings. So many paintings, each with their own meanings. That man still lingers, his lavender hair that only shows his right sharp eye. Why is he so intriguing? Why is there fire?

I wake up the next morning to the smell of breakfast. I smell eggs; mother is probably making omelets, my favourite morning meal. My clothes are as usual, a white long sleeved blouse, a red ribbon, black stockings that come up under my knees, red shoes, and a red skirt that goes down to my knees. All I need is my-

Where is my handkerchief? I was sure I kept it with me while I went to the museum yesterday. I head downstairs to join my parents.

"Good morning Ib, hurry and eat breakfast, school will start soon."

My father sits across from me, a steaming cup of coffee on the table as he reads the daily paper. I eat the omelet quickly, being careful not to choke. The fresh vegetables and melted cheese are heaven for my taste buds.

I brush my teeth and grab my brown book bag. I run outside, the sun rays beaming down. I wonder why I feel so happy being able to look at the sun and the sky. I walk past the local shops that sell various items like soap, flowers, and sweets. I head up the stairs to my school and already hear the taunting of the other children.

I am only nine years old, but I get made fun of for reading many books and listening to music instead of playing games. I'm not a big fan of exercise so I guess that might add to my list. They also taunt me for my eyes, a crimson red colour. I like to think they remind me of flowers, roses more specifically.

I sit in my desk alone in the corner; I don't have anyone to sit beside me because no one wants to be near me. I wonder why, my parents raised me to be polite and courteous to others.

During recess, I was reading a book on the famous artist Guertena. Although I did not know many of the words, it still intrigued me.

"Whatcha got there, weirdo?" A young boy called out and grabbed my book.

"Please give it back."

"No way!" He pushed me down and I landed on my behind. "Ha! Now you're just going to cry like a baby!"

I stood up and brushed the dirt off my skirt. "You know, that doesn't hurt at all. I feel like I've been through worse," I said the last part to myself.

"Hey!" A feminine voice came up from the distance. "Give that book back to her. It's very rude that you did that!" I could see her silhouette take the book from the boy before he ran off.

"You okay?" She handed me the book. Her eyes were a bright blue and her hair was like a river of gold. She wore a dark green dress that looked very prim and proper.

"What's your name?"

"…Ib." I said quietly.

"Ib? That's a new name. Well, Ib, my name is Maria."

She sat down beside me. "What are you doing after school? Want to hang out?"

I didn't want to, but this is the first time somebody has actually talked to me. "Okay then."

The school bell rang and Maria left to go to class. I was about to go but I noticed a small book on the ground. It belonged to Maria because her name was inside the cover, but what interested me was how the book had a faint smell of smoke lingering around it.

After school, I meet Maria outside the school grounds. "Hi there, Ib!" She greets me with a smile. I return her greeting with my own small smile and we begin walking.

We talked about ourselves and found out we lived on the same block. Maria said that she came from France, but she doesn't have a French accent even though she looks like one. "So where should we go Ib?" There weren't many places of interest to me here even though we both lived in upper-class neighborhoods.

"Can we visit the market?"

"Market? You mean the one where a lot of middle and lower-class people go?"

I nod and hold her hand. "I heard that they have nice teashops there," I try to tempt her.

"Well why didn't you say so? Let's go!" She grabs my hands and pulls me along.

It wasn't so busy and it was a beautiful place. The smell of freshly made food, alluring colors of various items on display.

Maria pulls me into small café with a green roof and small patio, inside was very simple looking but it felt comfortable. We took a seat by the window and grab a menu, the food and drinks look delicious! I never knew it was possible to make these kinds of things. "Oh Ib, I'm going to the washroom first, if the waiter comes, tell them I'd like a Mountain Blue Fairy Cake and iced tea." Maria left me to decide on the choice.

The macarons peak my interest and there was a selection of colors. I couldn't pick so I ended up picking a deluxe box, one of each color inside.

One of the waiters comes up to us, he's wearing a light blue buttoned up, long sleeved that was rolled up to his elbows. He also had black dress pants and a black apron around his waist.

"What can I get you?"

That voice. I look up and it's him! That man from the museum. I ended up stuttering. "U-Uh…."

"Hm? Aren't you that girl from the museum yesterday?"

I nod shakily. Maria returns and takes her seat, "Oh! Have you ordered yet, Ib?"

"Ib?" The man says.

I shake my head. "A Mountain Blue Fairy Cake, iced tea, and a Deluxe Box please."

He writes it all down and nods, leaving Maria and I alone. "He looks really old," Maria says.

"He doesn't seem that way."

"He almost looks two-hundred," she giggles as I smile. I can't help but look at him as he prepared our order.

I almost forgot and pulled out Maria's book, putting it on the table. "W-Where did you get that!" She spoke up and snatched it, shoving it into her bag.

"I-I found it on the ground after recess, I didn't look inside it."

She sighs. "Thanks, I knew you were a good friend Ib!" She smiles.

Just as the waiter comes back with our food, Maria hands me a piece of candy, "Here Ib!"

I thank her and watch as this man puts down the food in front of us. He smiles at me as the macarons are placed in front of me. "Enjoy ladies," he says before leaving.

"He really does seem creepy." Maria takes a bite of her cake and her eyes light up. "This is so good! You gotta try it Ib!" She feeds me a piece as my eyes shift around the room in case anyone was watching. Luckily no one was.

I admit the cake as good, but these macaoons make me feel relaxed, like I was reliving a nice memory. I had eaten a pink, green, purple, and orange macaron. All that's left were blue, red, and yellow. These colors…

"Oh no!" Maria's voice broke me out of my small trance. "I promised my father we'd go shopping. See you Ib!" She places a few dollar bills on the table and I take it, it was enough for both of our meals.

"Are you finished with these plates?" The man asks. I nod and he takes them away, but he does something unexpected, he comes back and sits across from me where Maria was sitting.

I can only stare at the three macarons until he picks up the blue one and holds it out in front of me with a smile. "Here," he offers me. I open my mouth and take a bite, delicious like all the others.

"Garry!" A man calls out, "You've worked hard today so you can get off early."

The lavender haired man nods and smiles back at me. "Well, it looks like I'm free."

"My name…is Ib…."

"Ib? That sounds like a very nice name. Say Ib, would you like to come with me to the store? I have to pick up some supplies."

Without even thinking I accept and finish eating the macarons before collecting my stuff, my book on Guertena would not fit in my already full school bag, so I hold it on our way.

We come up to a small store, it's a bit dark but I feel safe somehow. "Ah, here it is." Garry, as I now know, pulls out a small packet of what appear to be paintbrushes.

"It seems that you like Guertena's work, Ib. He does make some wonderful paintings." Garry says.

"You like art?" I ask him.

"Why yes, I'm a bit of a painter myself but I only paint when I have the feeling to, other times I just look through magazines of clothing or play on my guitar."

"Wow…," was all I could muster up.

He smiles down at me. "One day I'll play for you, I have a new piece I'm preparing and I'd love for you to be the first one to hear it."

I smile back to him and feel something hard in my pocket. It's a piece of candy from Maria, I unwrap and pop it into my mouth, it tastes like lemon.

"Here," Garry places a small candy in my hand, "You seem to enjoy candy Ib."

As we walk outside I hold onto Garry's hand while crossing the street. He walks me home before the sun sets and I wave to him.

Garry makes me smile. I feel safe when I'm near him.

I go inside my house and both my parents are there with their arms crossed in front of their chests. "Who was that?" My mother asks, her red eyes seem angry.

"He's a waiter from the café I went to with Maria. He brought me home after we went to the art store," I explain quietly.

"What café?" My father then asks.

"The one down near my school."

"You mean where the lower-class people go? Ib, how many times have we told you, you can't go running off with strangers and you cannot go over there. We are a part of the upper-class society, it isn't right for the two classes to mix."

"But what if I want to talk to him? He's nice and makes really good macarons!" I instantly regret saying that.

My mother grabs my wrist and pulls me up to my room, pushing me inside and locking the door. "You won't come out until you've learned your lesson, young lady!"

I lay down on my bed; the red cotton sheets are soft. The bed feels lonely, why is that? I feel like I need someone else here. I take out the candy Garry gave me and set it down beside me.

A/N: So basically, this isn't any of the legit endings, it's more of my own kind of ending with a small pinch of a few of them. It's not a whole happy-go-lucky story there will be a bit of darker things. I have also looked on the wikia page for the Ib games and it does say that she is about nine years old. If there is a mistake, feel free to PM or leave it in a review.