ten paintings burned (and one girl lost)

[thehangedrose]

[He awakes, and his head is still swimming with thoughts of useless inventions and painted roses and ferocious queens. It takes Garry a few seconds to realize that he's back in his room, and dressed in what seems to be a full suit of white armor which he definitely does not remember ever being in his wardrobe, ever.]

[But then he remembers riding a horse, and talking to people as if he knew the entire strange world on the back of his hand, and it all comes back. That...that dream was all real, wasn't it? And he had behaved as if he had lived there the entire time...]

[After checking his blue rose is alright, he heads right over to Rapunzel's room. Of course he would. She had been there too, and he couldn't wait to have an amusing conversation about how they both acted there, and how silly he looked in this armor of his, and how beautiful she was, no matter where they were, until he's realized that he's already in front of her room.]

[It's a blank door.]

[Oh, well...that's odd. He knocks, frowning slightly as he tries to understand what it meant. And he knocks again. And again. There's no answer, so he goes and opens the door because he's suddenly feeling the fear rise up in his chest like bile, and...]

[No. No no no no no. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.]

[...No, wait, this isn't what it looks like, this has got to be the wrong room, he thinks as he goes back into the hallway. He just chose one of the empty rooms by mistake, he probably wasn't thinking straight about the whole thing after his experience in Wonderland. Garry feels a nervous laugh bubble out of his throat. Hahaha, this was just a mistake on his part, silly old Garry, silly old him...]

[And after a few minutes of walking up and down the hallway, he sinks to the ground against the wall, his legs no longer feeling like they want to walk anymore. He's taken his journal with him, he realizes, and after a few seconds, he opens it, not even looking down to see what the rest of the castle is up to.He doesn't care about that. He doesn't care about anything right now, except...]
 

[The voice on the other end is unmistakably Garry's, but this time, it sounds broken. Hollow. An odd sort of state for someone who usually seems full of so much life.]

She's gone.

[There's a sharp intake of breath, and a few quiet mutters of "god god god this can't oh god", before there's another period of silence. And then he begins again, but with more difficulty this time:]

R-r-r-...she's left. Ra-rapunzel, she's no longer here...

[A shuddering sigh.]

Just wanted you to know.

[And with that, he's closed the book and thrown it harshly against the wall. People will find him sitting against the wall in the hallway, looking rather ridiculous dressed in his white armor, head buried in his hands.]

[Is he...sobbing?]

Comments

[bezazzled]

[Mabel is oblivious to Garry's inner turmoil, so when she happens across him--and nearly tripping over him in the process--she has no idea what is going on.]

Dude, are you crying?

[thehangedrose]

[He looks up with some amount of surprise, letting out a sound equivalent to a squeak, before he realizes that it's just Mabel.]

[He shakes his head.]

N-n-no...

[LIESSSSS]

[bezazzled]

[Garry is a terrible liar and should never try to lie ever again. This is what is going through her mind. She's also wondering why he's crying, but has a feeling she'll find out soon enough.]

You're totally crying! You didn't see another freaky ghost or something, did you?

[thehangedrose]

[He gapes at that. HE'S NOT THAT MUCH OF A SISSY TO CRY ABOUT GHOSTS YES HE IS]

What? No! No, that's not at...

[And he grasps the sides of his shaggy head and closes his eyes, as if that's going to help all of this just go away.]

Just...please, leave me alone, I'm okay! Really, I am...

Action (and some teal deer)

[not_mafia]

[This posting felt like a sudden slap to the face. But although he liked Rapunzel, even considered her a pretty good friend, all he could think about was how Garry was suddenly left alone, without warning.

Which was worse? That this castle allowed these impossible relationships to form in the first place, or that it inevitably tore them apart...?

Bunny ears and a person he was supposed to be avoiding be damned, Tsuna got on his motorcycle and immediately went for the castle. He remembers the floor Rapunzel's room had been on; he'd came to her during the disease, and she'd tried to teach him how to play an instrument. A sad little smile quirks his lips at that.

Yet, as soon as he gets there, he realizes that he's not entirely sure what he should do. What could he do? Rapunzel was gone, and the chances of her coming back, especially with her memory, were slim to none. Again, he found himself powerless against this damned castle...

And there's Garry. He's sitting against the wall, face in his hands, and with his rabbit ears, he can hear his sobs all too well.

He comes over and kneels beside him, his bunny ears pinned back, and he hesitates for a moment before uncertainly reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He'll forgo the honorific for now.]

Garry...

[thehangedrose]

[It takes him a while to realize that someone's said something, and then he feels the hand on his shoulder and he almost jumps, he isn't expecting it. But luckily, he recognizes Tsuna, and after a minute of just staring at him with a wide stare, he shakes his head and buries his face into his hands again.]

[She's gone. She's gone and there's nothing he can do about it.]

Just leave me be...

[not_mafia]

--ah! [The sudden movement causes him to withdraw his hand, a bit of an awkward expression on his face when Garry stares at him, though it quickly becomes a frown again when he buries his face into his hands once more.] Garry...

[He shifts so he can sit against the wall next to him, and his bunny ears fold back as he looks at the ground. This was... hard. Because there wasn't anything that could make this better, he couldn't just say that they could get her back or maybe it was just the castle up to its old tricks; no, a blank nameplate only meant one thing.

... he couldn't even say she was going back home, to someplace safe. It wasn't so hard to believe that she might, given her cheerful, energetic disposition, but he didn't know her well enough, and he didn't want to make that mistake if Garry did know better.

So, he'll just sit here and wait, then. It's not a lot, but at the very least... Garry won't have to grieve by himself.]

[thehangedrose]

[It takes a while for him to finally address Tsuna, and it's in a very muted, timid sort of voice as he raises his face out of his hands. Why did everything bad have to happen to him, huh? They had been so happy, and...then the castle just went and took that away. It wasn't liked she moved to another country and he could just send her a message or something- she had been sent to another universe, and it was a big fat chance that he would ever see her again.]

[God, this place was just as cruel as the gallery, if not crueler...]

It's not fair, really. It's really not fair...

[theabjectauthor]

Oh ---!

Oh, no.

[thehangedrose]

[There's a long pause on the other end.]

Sad to say, it's true...

[theabjectauthor]

I'm sorry, Garry. I didn't have much time to get to know her, but she seemed very sweet. ... Were you close friends?

Garry

[whichwayyoulean]

[Oh.

The Once-ler doesn't really pause to mourn the friend he's just lost. After all, people leaving was inevitable, he'd come to accept that. But Garry? Garry already had enough issues with being left alone. Being abandoned.

This castle sucked]

...I'm sorry, Garry. [And he genuinely is] ...Where are you?

The Once-ler

[thehangedrose]

Don't be. It's not your fault.

[People shouldn't blame themselves for stuff like this, he thinks. No, they should blame the castle, the castle took her away and...he just let it happen, completely helpless to do a thing.]

[He sighs.]

Near her room. Just...in the hallway.

Garry

[whichwayyoulean]

I know it's not. I'm sorry this has happened to you.

[There's silence, for a very long time. Then, eventually, the Once-ler appears, a bag of marshmallows under his arm. He sits himself down next to Garry, preoffering the bag]

Hey.

dictated

[is_mafia]

[An indrawn breath can be heard over the journal.]

Rapunzel...

[And then he sighs, bringing a hand to his temple and rubbing it. He should be happy for her, than she got to go home and see those she left behind, and have her own adventures.

And yet it stings, because he would never see her again, and even if he did, she would never remember him.

It was just another person that he would forever keep in his heart (as long as he could remember her) that he had lost. It seemed to be a common theme with him.

But this man, who had announced it... he seemed like he had known her better and for longer than Giotto had.]

I am sorry, for your loss. She was dear to me too.

dictated

[thehangedrose]

[Oh? This is somebody he doesn't know, based on the voice, but...it does feel better, knowing that someone, somewhere, shared some amount of grief for the fact that she was gone.]

...

Thanks. I just hope she's okay, being back home...

dictated

[is_mafia]

I hope so as well. She never told me much about her home...

dictated

[psych0p0mps]

[gone? oh, no... she really liked Rapunzel. but... wow, it sounds like Garry is taking it super hard.]

are you ok

dictated

[thehangedrose]

I'm going to be okay. Don't worry about me...

[Which is a complete lie, but he didn't want others to worry so much over him.]

Re: dictated

[psych0p0mps]

were you guys close?

[Because he doesn't really sound ok, and tbh she didn't even know they knew each other, I don't think.]

[ino]

Garry ...

[:( poor guy. she knows how absolutely awful that can be.

he sounds like he could use a friend right now, though, so!]

Where are you?

[thehangedrose]

Just...in the hallway somewhere.

[A sigh. All of these concerned responses are good, but still, the whole thing hurts like nothing else. He mumbles:]

Near her door.

[eat_me_beat_me]

Shit! She's gone again?

[thehangedrose]

She was gone once before? She's never left like this since I've been here...

[eat_me_beat_me]

Yeah... since I've been here she's come and gone twice, now.