Fulfilling a Promise ([Ib] Garry x Reader)

Struggling Onward

Suddenly, the door creaks open, and I am greeted with Garry running out of the room. He grabs me by my arm, and darts to anywhere away from the room. He stops by the door next to the vase, and exhausted, hunches over and puts his hands on his knees, panting rapidly.
"....I...have had enough...of that room!! Why did I...have to deal with that?!"
It's obvious he's been traumatized. I even see the tears glisten in his eyes before I embrace him. God, the poor thing's shaking.
"Shh...it's okay, Garry. You don't have to tell me what was in there, but just know that no matter what, I won't let it happen to you again.."
As I feel his tears start to form on my shoulder, he gently hugs back. I softly ruffle his lilac hair.
"It's okay to cry, Garry...you've done such a good job coping with this place, you deserve to cry...I got you, everything's gonna be fine.."
His breathing gradually regulates, and he hugs a bit tighter. The tears on my shoulder begin to dry, and I kiss his forehead, like he did to me. I feel him smile against me. He then lifts his head up, and we realize that Ib is in grave danger. We go through the last locked door, and go up the stairs without much hesitation.
I hear a little girl's voice echoing through the walls.
"W h e r e  a r e  y o u  g o i n g , I b ?
W h y  a r e  y o u  g o i n g  b y  y o u r s e l f ?
W e p r o m i s e d w e ' d b e t o gether...
Right?
Why are you running?"
"IB!!"
We both scream for Ib as we darted up the stairs, I, immediately taking cover for Ib, and Garry attempting to apprehend Mary. She was holding a small palette knife in her shaking hand, and her face could only be described as 'broken'. Suddenly, a thump echoed throughout the brown walls, and Mary lie unconscious, on the cold floor, yellow rose by her side. Garry and I then look over at our young companion, and desperately ask if she's ok. She then wraps her arms around my figure and sinks her head into my chest.
"Sorry, Ib... it must've been scary...but we're here now, and everything's going to be okay..."
We eventually regain our composures, and now reunited, venture on. We pass through a very spacious brown area, similar to our area. This is where Ib must've been. She takes us to this room where there's another set of stairs blocked by one of the headless statues. Garry struggles, but he manages to push it out of the way. Then we all head down a long, narrow flight of stairs, the floor turning from brown to bright fluorescent pink, and the walls a sloppily painted navy blue. Almost all the way down, a shooting star zooms in front of us, startling us a bit. At the end of the stairs, the path transitions from solid to very scribbly, and everything from this point forward looked and smelled like crayons. I don't know why, but I find it a bit hard to breathe in this place. We explore the area, and we find a white house, which we think is a good idea to go into. We all look around, and Ib finds a bucket that might serve as useful. Suddenly, the door bursts open, and we duck behind the other side of the wall just in the nick of time. I instinctively cover my mouth to prevent any sounds coming from it. Then, we hear her familiar voice, but now with a bit gruffer and with a hint of sadness and betrayal.
"Ib...(Y/N)...Garry...where are you?"
I hear some footsteps after she says that, but it's barely audible due to my heart wanting to burst out of my chest.
Please don't find us..please...
Then, the footsteps fade a little and the door closes. We're okay, for now.
The more we go around this place the more I start to become paranoid. With Mary being on the loose, and the uneasy air, and the ringing in my ears, it's a lot to take in. But with the others with me, it makes me feel a bit better. Right now, we're taking a break by the crudely drawn sun, which is surprisingly warm. We just talk about random things, from what happened to us while we were separated to who we came to the gallery with. Suddenly, Garry asked us if we've ever heard of macarons. I personally love macarons, they're so cute and tiny, and I feel so sophisticated whenever I eat them. He offers to take us out for macarons when we get out of here, and I gladly agree.
But..what if we never get out?
...no. We will get out. He promised me, and I promised myself too. We're almost to an exit, I can feel it.
With a small amount of new found confidence, we solve a few more puzzles, and go inside a small white house with a little yellow heart on the door, now having the key. The "house" was just one big empty room with a big blue box against the far wall. That confidence and slight bit of warmness in my soul vanishes in an instant. The air is cold, unsettling. I start to feel my hands shaking again, almost involuntary. As I try desperately to keep myself together, we examine the box.
"Toy Box"
Garry hesitantly speaks. I'm sure he's uneasy too.
"This is the Toy Box? It's rather big.."
Then he curiously looks into the box. It's empty, but also bottomless, like a huge abyss just waiting to swallow someone whole.
"They said there'd be a key in here..I can't say I see the bottom. Is there really a key in there, I wonder?"
A quiet giggle.
"Wanna see?"
A pair of small hands forcibly push us into the box, one by one. Then we fall. Falling and falling and falling, just like before. Suddenly, I hit the bottom with a thump, slight pain coursing through my body.

1059 words

Hey y'all, it's me again. Just here to tell you that we're splitting endings again. I'm pretty sure you know what's coming if you've actually played Ib and know the endings. That being said, if you think Mary catches Ib's rose, read Forgotten Portrait. If not, read Goodbye Mary; Goodbye Fabricated World. Again, thanks for stickin' around! ~J