Forgotten Portrait

The Rose Garden

Author's Note:   A few fan-made theories I discovered on the internet and found interesting have invaded the story! Just a fair warning....

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                                                                       ~~~Ibara~~~

Taking hold of the handle, I pushed the door open. The door seemed to lead into the darkness itself, but I knew better. I knew that the door actually went somewhere, even if it didn't appear that way. I took a deep breath, looking at Garry before I ran into the darkness. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps coming in behind me.

The blackness soon opened up into light, revealing a totally white room. The walls and floor were bare, even though I had expected to see a few "artworks" in the room. But then... I saw something at the very end of the room, and it seemed to call me to it. Before I even realized it, I had started to walk towards the object that soon revealed itself as a painting.

"So you finally came."

I stared at the painting, seeing something that felt so familiar to me. I knew that I had seen it somewhere, but it took a minute for it to hit me. I had seen it in the art gallery, but something seemed a little different about the painting in front of me. The blue roses were there... but their victim was gone.

I finally... came...? I looked around. Where are you...?

"Right in front of you. Allow me to show you."

"AH!" Thorny vines shot out of the painting, wrapping around my arms and legs. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I demanded as the vines tightened around me, binding me. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." The vines started to retreat back into the painting. "Just let yourself be taken away."

"I-I... don't know if I should trust you. You haven't failed me yet, so I guess that I will." I relaxed and let myself be dragged into the painting, Forgotten Portrait.

                                                                               ~~~~~🌹~~~~~

"Ib... Ib... Ib...! Wake up!" It took a moment for it to dawn on me that someone was calling my name. "IB!" As my mind woke up, the voice seemed to get louder. "Ah, you're starting to come around."

"Ngh... H-huh?"

"Morning, sleepy head. Are you feeling okay?"

"G-Garry...? No, you're not Garry... Garry has purple hair." Whenever I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a black haired version of Garry. I sat up swiftly, looking around. "Where is Garry!?" I thought I had heard him right behind me...

"Calm down, Ib. I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do."

"Yeah! Explain what's going on, now! Why did you lead me here!? And... who are you!?"

He was silent for a long time, but he broke the silence suddenly. "I can't believe you're here!" He said, throwing his arms around me. "But... you probably don't remember me, do you?"

"Remember you? I've never met you!"

He sighed heavily. "You always carry something of mine in your pocket, do you not? Despite the fact that it stopped working nine years ago. You took it from me and used it to destroy Mary nine years ago. Please, Ib, remember..."

"Remember...?" I slowly reached for the object that I always kept with me. I pulled an old Zippo lighter out of my pocket and held it up in front of my face, seeing that a name had been etched into the side with a pocket knife. Staring at that lighter... all of my memories came flooding back.