Reunion – An Ib and Garry fanfiction

Chapter 1 - Memories

"I don't want to lie... But I don't want to tell the truth either..."

Once again, Ib had waked up from one of those nightmares. She had been trapped in a whole new world. Everything was turned up-side-down and the only person she was able to find was one male who helped her the whole way out before the end. She always woke up at that one place when he was too weak to continue, and it bothered her. She wanted to see who it was, she wanted to know who it was! Was it some guy she had seen on TV? No, that didn't ring a bell.. Was it someone she had met before? .. Maybe.

She thought about the surroundings in the dream. Everything seemed so unrealistic. She had no idea how she could've met him in the outside world. After some thinking she started to remember the galleries hanging around on the walls. The lady in Red.. Juggler.. The headless sculptures..

Her eyes widened when she suddenly realized where this all had happened. In the gallery downtown! She got up immediately, threw on her usual clothes and then she ran out of the house without even telling her mum and dad where she was going. She was so excited to see if this was right.. If he could be there.. Maybe.. Maybe she would meet him!? There was a 1% chance she would, but it was worth a try. She really just had to see for herself! Was this man from her dreams also from the gallery?

Ib took the bus to get down there. She was now sixteen years old and she could get her own money by working. She watched people get off on the stops before she finally reached her destination. She remembered that it was seven years ago since she was here to visit, and was quite shocked over the fact that she still remembered and that the place even was here at all. Seven years.. That's a lot.

As she entered the big building, she saw that it was kind of changed, but not much. The windows on the left had been replaced with some other paintings and obviously they had just moved stuff so it would look better. As she walked inside, she paid at the desk and walked slowly up the stairs. The first thing that caught her eye was the window she recognized from her dream. There had been someone banging on it when she was there and it was dark instead of light. The whole place had been empty too.. She continued down the hall, holding her small bag that she had brought around her shoulder as she moved along the people. Since she was still going to school, she wore a red skirt, white shirt and red ribbon around her neck along with white stockings and red shoes. Her hair was dark brown and her eyes were red as well. The outfit fit her well.

Suddenly… She could have sworn her heart skipped a beat… She saw him. On the wall. He was a portrait… She immediately hasted her way over to it and started to look at it. Yes, there was no doubt that this was the boy from her dreams. But there was something else with it… The more she stared, the more she remembered her dream. She remembered how he protected her from so much danger, how they ran away from the art trying to get them.. It was so.. Realistic now. Of some reason she believed it…

She glanced at the name of the portrait and saw that it was called "Forgotten Portrait", which made her frown a little. No, he was not forgotten. She just had to remember him completely..

It was like a flash, no, like a struck as it all came from nothing. Her brain got filled with all kinds of things. The candy she had in her pocket from the day when she left the gallery.. The roses.. Garry. It was Garry…! She could hardly breathe, and she got a few stares when she stumbled backwards and clutched her chest like she was having some kind of heart attack, but she couldn't help it. This was the boy who had saved her life. The boy who had given his blue rose to Mary, that little girl, who Ib burned to death with Garry's lighter! The lighter she was left with as well after the trip to this place. Everything fell onto her like a strong waterfall and she once again stumbled more backwards. This boy. This.. Person.. How could she forget something so important..? Ib had never remembered him, even when her dreams told her he was there. She was now scared. What was she supposed to do?

Since all of those memories were back now, she knew how to get to him, but it would be a long road. Mary was hopefully not there since she was gone, but there were still moving sculptures, killer Lady portraits..

Ib gritted her teeth as she finally managed to tell everyone she was okay. She knew what she had to do. She had to save Garry, and she would do it as well. She would find him, the rose, and revive it with one of the pots that were more special than the normal ones. She would rescue Garry and bring him home with her.

As those thoughts were nailed to her brain, she turned around and headed for the big gallery she used to get into that crazy world. Hopefully it was still there.. And it was! As she rounded the corner, she saw the majestetic picture hand across the white wall. She made sure no one was looking and then she reached her hand out to touch it.

"Please let it go through, please let it go through," she prayed in her mind and as he fingers hit the painting, nothing happened. She just stood there with closed eyes and fingers on the painting. "W-What?" she muttered to herself as she pulled her hand back. It was like someone had died to her. Her eyes watered and she sobbed to herself as she started to whimper Garry's name. She even fell down on her knees, covering her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. She would never be able to find and save Garry.. What has she been thinking? Garry was gone in a place he would sleep forever, and it was all Ib's fault. If she just.. Didn't lose her own rose..

Suddenly, a sound filled the whole room and Ib turned her attention back to the painting. There – in the middle of all the colours she saw a doll. One of those ugly dolls from her dream.. No, from her past. She stood up and watched it move around, dance across the colours. Then she got angry, hating the fact that it was teasing her now.

"How can I get to Garry!?" she yelled, not caring if anyone heard her now. She slammed her fist against the picture, and the doll just laughed at her before it did some kind of jump into what looked like an ocean. An ocean.. The.. Oh my. Ib had been a total idiot! This painting was her way out, not way in to this weird world! She got up and ran as fast as she could between the crowds of people who were watching the paintings she could care less about. She ran down the stairs, to the left and to where the huge, blue painting on the floor was She saw the old eel-looking animal and panted slightly. But.. The whole place was full of people. How would she be able to go down there without having suspicious stares?

She then bumped into someone, and she excused herself, but the person just passed her without even looking at her. She stared at him leave before she realized she had managed to back into a woman, who also did not seem to react to the touch. It started to make her think and she poked every single person she could reach, but no one reacted. Not a blink from one of them.

"They can't…. See me?" she muttered, and just when she had said that, the small doll appeared at her feet with the same grin on it's face. "No. As soon as you touched the gallery to our world, you kind of already got there.. But only halfway. The people here cannot see you or feel you, so even if you bump into them, they won't notice!" the doll explained. Ib started to feel kind of sick by hearing the words from the little doll, but she managed to nod and keep her attention on the doll. "So if I go down there.. No one will notice?" she asked and nodded to the way to Garry. The doll gave a slight nod itself and then it moved over to the painting, jumping down into it. Then it was gone. Now it was Ib's turn.. Why would the doll help her? Why did it even care if she was back or not? The only thing those dolls did was to hurt her and Garry.

She stepped over the security ropes and held a tight grip on her bag. To make sure this would go fine, she poked the painting. It felt like water and her finger went through. She then held her breath and jumped, hugging her bag tightly to her chest. The first thing she felt was water. She felt her whole body completely cold and soaked, but it didn't take more than five seconds and she landed on the blue floor in the first place of this.. Maze. She coughed a little, but as she got up she realized she was not wet at all. Her whole body was dry like when she arrived and so was her bag. As she turned to look up at the way she came from, there was nothing but a blank, blue wall there now, which meant no turning back now. She understood that and moved on. Everything she had dreamt about was here. The writing on the wall telling her to come, and then there was the rose. Her rose. She walked over to it and held it close to her chest, counting the petals. 10! The last time she had only 5.. Was it because of her age? It did not matter, she moved along the corridors and tried to remember every single thing she could from the time she was here as a young girl. She had been smart at that time, managing to get through all this without getting lost..

Now her goal was to find Garry and save him. Who knew? Maybe his rose was okay and was hidden somewhere? However, she would look for it for as long as she had, and she would not give up until Garry's eyes were open and he was walking with her out of this crazy place. Ib would find Garry, and they would be together again..

To be continued.