AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hello readers! We're starting to get into the heat of the story; as most of the readers are expecting, Garry does appear in this chapter! I had a hard time naming this chapter, it could have been just "Garry" but this chapter has much more to do with just Garry. This chapter tells about one of the best kept secrets of the Gallery: "The Forgotten Portrait" is a portrait that appears differently to certain people. Most see it as a completely gray painting and think that perhaps "portrait" wasn't the best title, but maybe Ib and Garry weren't the first visitors to Guertena's world...?
Also, I got a few PMs asking about the cover of Fantasia. I had initially drawn a cover for it, but because of the dimensions the cover needed to be, the picture was too big to fit into the small space provided. The picture now occupying that space is my cosplay of Ib that I whipped up in a day and wore to MagFest 2013. For more cosplay shots please refer to my deviantart: akabarayashiki
Because of university starting up again, I will be releasing chapter MUCH MUCH slower, but please bear with me~!Now, onto the story, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
CHAPTER III - Domain of the Forgotten Ones and Progression
The door creaked shut behind us as we stared around our new surroundings. The walls of the new room were beautiful, washed over with a light blue but it seemed like a rainbow had entered the room and decided to stay. Light greens, dark greens, blues, deep reds, oranges, yellows, and varying shades of violet seemed to be spray painted onto the walls. Golden frames were hanging in the room, about 9 or so, each the same size, but in each a different painting was behind the glass.
"This place is beautiful..." I inhaled and exhaled deeply, this room was just as lovely as the last room, it almost didn't seem real...
"Wow..." Edelweiss's eyes grew large, she let go of my hand and ran over to a portrait. "She's so pretty..."
Walking to her side, I looked at the painting of the lady before me. She was raven haired, with fair skin wearing a completely black gown complete with a black veil. She looked like a mourning bride, but I couldn't be sure. It saddened me that her eyes weren't open though, lovely as the painting is, but if her eyes were open, the painting would be that much more beautiful. My eyes slid down to where the plaque was.
"The Forgotten Portrait...?" Wait, but that can't be right, I thought to myself. "The Forgotten Portrait" in the gallery was of a man wearing blue, not a woman at all. I ran a hand through my hair. Edelweiss meanwhile had skipped on to the next painting and was swooning over the young boy in the painting. He looked maybe 17, but even so young, he wore an army uniform in a deep shade of forest green. His eyes too were shut as if he were sleeping. "He looks so...peaceful..." Edelweiss's pale finger traced his jaw, "It's like he's asleep..."
I had to bite my lip again. Something about this collection of sleeping portraits seemed to have struck a chord deep in my mind. "Yes...he's asleep...just asleep Edelweiss..." My fingers clenched my blood red rose and I stared at the floor; I could not bear to look at the other portraits, their tranquil faces suddenly were more than I could bear. I began to walk towards the other end of the gallery where there was a new door. I reached it and sat down directly beside it, careful not to touch the wall in case anything burst from it. Carefuly, I tucked my rose into the side pocket of my skirt. It should be safe there, at least for now.
The small girl sporting my red blazer was now crossing to the opposite side of the room admiring the sleeping portraits over there. Warily, I looked at them from a distance.
The first thing that caught my eye was that the portrait furthest from Edelweiss and closest to me was completely blank. There was no figure against the backdrop, only a wash of pale brown on the canvas. Cocking my head to the side, I squinted to read the label beneath the portrait. "The Forgotten Portrait". Of course, whoever painted these must be completely crazy... I rubbed my eyes and focused instead down on the ground.
This gallery was by far one of the strangest places I've ever been. Unless of course I'd just bumped my head during the field trip. Yes, that must be it, I'm probably lying in an infirmary now, dreaming up this entire place. I shook my head, unable to help but smile; I must be artistically frustrated or something to make up an entire coherent world...
"Ib?" I looked up, snapping out of my own pity party and saw that Edelweiss was looking at me curiously.
"Oh, yes?"
"You were just spacing out, is everything okay?"
I smiled as brightly as I could, "Yes everything is fine!" I stood and dusted my skirt off, " I don't see anything in this room, should we go on?"
"Okay!" Edelweiss took my hand and squeezed it. I smiled again, I felt like I had a little sister. Mary had always been like this when we were young, always grabbing my hand when she was scared, now that she was older, less things fazed her and I find myself missing her clingy younger self. I took the glass handle of the new door, it was a completely white door with not a blemish upon it. The door opened with little effort and we stepped into a small room. The room was deep green all over, like the canopy of a dark forest. There was a single painting in the back of the room that had a plaque beneath it. As we approached it, Edelweiss suddenly put a hand to her mouth.
"That's...!"
"What? What's wrong?"
"That's the portrait I was looking at in the gallery before I felt the earthquake!"
I looked to the portrait and saw that it was portrait of a woman wearing a blue dress. Her hair was brown and wavy, a long arm leaned against the bottom edge of the frame. Her eyes seemed to be staring into the distance behind us.
"The Lady in Blue." The moment the last syllable left Edelweiss's lips, I watched incredulously as the lady's eyes found us. Her gaze was bloodthisty, both irises of her eye were pitch black. Instinctively, my foot took a step backward.
CRASH! The glass exploded from the portrait and two long elegant arms came from within the painting. The white hands were armed with long clawlike nails.
"Ahhh!" Edelweiss's scream jolted me out of shock; I turned the girl around and both of us raced for the door. My fingers reached the door handle first and I twisted.
It was locked. Frantic now, I jerked harder, "No, this isn't happening!" Edelweiss screamed again and I turned for a split second. The painting had fallen off the wall onto the hard floor and was clawing its way toward us! The woman opened her mouth and let out an unearthly screech, like the wind blowing through a barren forest.
The girl beside me began to pound on the door that we came from."HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" I could feel a whimper building up in my chest and I continued to fruitlessly tug at the door handle. The monster was getting closer by the moment, I felt time slow down as her hands reached within a foot of me. Edelweiss jumped in fronf of me.
"No! You won't hurt Ib!" The lady is blue grabbed Edelweiss's ankles, her nails sank into the girl's tender flesh. A few white petals fell from the rose in Edelweiss's hair as she cried out in pain.
I knew for certain now that this was no dream. "Edelweiss!"
Suddenly, the handle beneath my fingers turned on its own accord. I fell onto the ground and let out a yelp as the door opened. A tall man wearing a fraying long blue coat strode in. Though tall, he did not look intimidating; with a single arm, he grabbed Edelweiss by the waist and wrenched her from the portrait's grip. In another move, he had pushed the little girl through the white door and offered me his hand.
"Get up!" I took his hand and scrambled to my feet. From here, the man no longer seemed tall, in fact he was not even a fully grown man, but a teenager like I was. His fingers clamped onto my wrist as he turned heel and heading back through the door. No sooner had we crossed the threshold, his free hand closed the white door. Panting, he leaned heavily against it, as if blockading it. I found myself breathing hard too, bringing my right hand to my heart, I tried to calm my breathing down. I stole a glance at the boy standing beside me.
His wavy hair was deep shade of violet, several deep blue streaks could be seen on the uppermost layer. What an interesting dye job. His eyes were closed but he too clutched his chest, willing his heart to slow down. I blinked rapidly at my savior, his profile was soft, his jawline, dull not like a guy's at all. He abruptly turned and looked me straight in the eye.
"Are you alright?" His long purple bangs obstructed my view of his left eye, but his right eye was a shade of royal blue, like an sapphire.
I willed my lips to move. "Y-yes...I'm fine..."
The boy smiled a relieved smile, but it immediately disappeared as a clawing sound came from behind the closed door. He gave the door a final shove with his shoulder before backing away, dragging me with him. "There, she won't come after you again." He smiled at me again before realising that he was still grasping my wrist. "Oh! I'm sorry!" he dropped my hand hurriedy and backed away.
"I-it's fine, really..." I massaged my wrist and looked around. Edelweiss was sitting on the ground, my blazer wrapped protectively around her, looking very lost. When our eyes met, she made a rapid frightened glance in Garry's direction. "Oh! Uhh...thank you for saving us..." I turned hastily back to our savior, "I'm uh, Ib, Kusakabe Ib. This is Edelweiss, uh..."
"Weiß." the girl piped up, "I'm German."
"Oh I see, it was no problem at all...Edelweiss and Ib, what lovely names." The boy's eyes lingered on me for a moment before clearing his throat, "My name is Otonashi Garry."
"Are you also from the gallery?" Edelweiss was watching him mystified.
"Ah, yes, I was...um, am." Garry cleared his throat, "I got lost in here and I'm trying to find a way out."
"Us too..." Edelweiss said sadly.
"Well, I would feel terribly for leaving two young ladies to fend for themselves, may I accompany you?"
"We would like that very much Mr. Garry!"
"Garry..." I murmured. The name was a common one, yet something about that name made me feel infinitely sad.
"Yes?"
I looked up, "Oh sorry! It's nothing..." I flushed as Garry continued to look at me, tilting his head, looking confused.
Just then, Edelweiss let out a cry of pain.
"Edelweiss?!" I rushed to her side. The girl's ankle was bleeding profusely, the lady in blue had done more damage than I thought. The rose woven in the girl's hair only had three petals left.
"We need to stop the bleeding." Garry pulled a tissue from his pocket. As he did so I saw it, a blue rose, so blue that I wasn't sure it was real, fall to the ground. While he began to staunch the flow of blood from her ankle, I picked up the rose on the ground. I've seen a rose as blue as this before...I know I have... Garry saw me staring, "Oh, thank you I-, I mean, Miss Kusakabe, just tuck that back into my pocket would you?"
"S-sure..." Strange, he just tried to call my by my first name... Approaching Garry's left, I slipped the rose into his pocket.
"It's not working..." Garry pulled another tissue from his pocket, "We'll have to find a vase."
"What?" Great, our new companion has lost his marbles. "What is a vase going to do?
"The key to getting out of this hellhole is to not lose all the petals on your rose." Garry lifted Edelweiss from the ground, "Surely you've noticed, every time you get injured in here, you lose petals." I nodded mutely. "Well it goes the other way too."
"Other way?"
"If you pluck a petal off your rose, damage is inflicted on your body."
"You're shitting me." Edelweiss looked up at me in wonderment. I had cursed for the first time in front of the child. I was brought up by my parents not to curse, particularly in front of children. But occasionally there arises certain occasions where cursing was seen as a necessity.
Garry blinked at me, "My...you've...um, let's get going!" He nodded his head at the blank portrait titled "Forgotten Painting", "I found an entry way behind that painting, could you get the door Miss Kusakabe?" Edelweiss gave out another pitiful cry. I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind and ran to the frame. Carefully, I pried at it from the left. It didn't budge.
"Other side." Garry grunted, his voice straining. Edelweiss must be heavier than she looked. I moved to the other end of the portrait and tugged at it. It swung open like a door on hinges.
He carried Edelweiss into the passage while I brought up the rear. I closed the portrait behind me and stared into the darkness.
"Hold up, Ib- I mean Miss-"
"It's fine, you can just call me Ib."
"Thank you, Ib, could you reach into my pocket again? I have a lighter somewhere."
"Okay." I touched Garry's back feeling my way to his jacket pocket. I found it, inside I felt coins and the rose. "Nothing, it's not here."
"Try the other pocket."
Awkwardly, I felt for his back once more. Going to the right this time, I found the second pocket. Inside was some tissues, more coins, and something thin. I pulled it out. Striking my finger on the starter, a flame burst forth in the dark. "Ahh, thank you Ib." Edelweiss whose face was pale white now, smiled weakly at me. Garry moved aside letting me step ahead of him. Carrying the flame, we descended further into the unknown. The walls in the passage were built from stone, it was chilly in here and deathly still. I started getting paranoid, staying as far from the walls as possible, those arms never ever gave warning when they came out of the walls. After a few minutes of agonising restlessness, we approached the outlines of a door.
"I think we're out..." I grasped for a handle and found it. The door came open into the next gallery. The entirety of the walls were a rusty red, the floor was stone just like in the passageway only someone had went ahead and painted it blood red. I felt dizzy in here, like I was going to be sick. I leaned against the first piece of furniture I saw, a desk. Garry followed me, gently lowering Edelweiss to the ground.
"Here's a vase." Garry murmured, carefully pulling the rose from Edelweiss's hair. I glanced at the desk for the first time and noticed that indeed there was a vase; it was made of fine glass and filled to the brim with clear water. Gingerly, Garry placed the rose into the glass.
"What will that do?"
"Watch it, you're about to see something amazing." Garry smiled at me and turned his attention back to the flower. Unconvinced, I focused my attention at the white rose. It was starting to do something very strange, white petals were starting to grow out at an alarming speed. My eyes widened in shock.
"What in the world..." This was identical to my dream this morning! I placed a rose into a vase and watched as it regained health...was that a premonition? I continued to stare at the flower as the two remaining petals that were browning began to shed the colour of decay and regain a healthy appearance.
"The vases are our saving grace." Garry plucked the flower from the vase and handed it back to Edelweiss. I glanced from the flower to Edelweiss's ankle and saw that there was not a scratch on her.
Before I could say anything, Garry's hand was before me, his fingers curling up.
"What?"
"Give me your rose. You're missing petals as well aren't you?" I nodded and reached into my pocket, producing the lovely blood red rose. I put the flower in his palm. He smiled at me then placed the rose into the vase. "There, now you won't feel as tired."
"I am not tired...this place is just...I don't know, the colour sickens me." I defensively replied.
"It's certainly not a calming colour." Garry muttered more to himself, then louder he said, "If you want Ib, you can close your eyes for a moment." Edelweiss looked up from where she sat and smiled at me.
"I'm alright..." I knelt down beside the girl. She seemed to be much better, but I couldn't be sure. "How are you feeling Edelweiss?"
"I feel great!"
"Glad to hear it." I felt strength come into my body, tingling sensations filled my fingertips. Funny, maybe I was a bit tired...
Garry prodded my head with the stem of my rose. I looked up, pocketed my rose and thanked him. "Should we continued then ladies?"
"Yes please, I would like to get out of here quickly!" Edeweiss finished weaving her rose back into her hair.
"Don't be too hasty Edelweiss, you need your energy." Garry chided. He turned to me and smiled, "Children are always so impatient aren't they?"
"Yes." I laughed. "Well, Edelweiss is a strong little girl, if she says she'll be fine, I think we should go ahead and continue."
"Alright then, let's be off." Garry stood up and brushed the back of his coat off. "Looks like this area is built like a maze rather than the former room. We've got no choice but to follow it." Edelweiss jumped up and stood waiting for me. Garry offered his hand to me again.
"You're a fine gentleman Garry."
I saw a pale blush appear in his face as he hurriedly looked elsewhere. "Ah, well, my father taught me well then." I smiled, rising to my feet with his help. Edelweiss had zipped up my windbreaker.
"Are you cold?"
"Yes...it seems to be colder in here." Edelweiss touched the wall with a small finger. "The walls are all made of stone too."
"Crude architecture by the looks of it..." Garry ran a hand through his wavy hair. "No matter, we'll get warmer if we keep walking." Edelweiss took my hand, the three of us walked together down the hall. There were paintings hanging everywhere. I recognised from the gallery the painting of coffee and cake, yet another painting was a black snake with a blue stone in its eye, reminiscent of the white snake from the gallery. There were others I didn't recognise though, a painting of a juggler and a painting with an piece of fruit and a knife. After we passed the fruit painting I head a loud clatter behind me.
"What was that?" The violet haired boy turned around in alarm. Edelweiss hid behind him while I took a defensive step back. In front of the fruit painting was a blade. A fruit knife, only about 8 inches in length had fallen out of the painting! Apprehensively, I knelt down and picked it up carefully by the hilt.
"Is that safe?" The girl was tugging nervously at her dress hem.
I smiled at the little girl, "It's just a fruit knife. We should hold on to it in case it comes in handy later."
Garry nodded slowly. "You're right, just in case, let's keep that around."
I pocketed the knife in my other small skirt pocket. It was uncomfortable, but because of the knife's bluntness, I wasn't too bothered. We continued on, the hallway took a sharp turn to the east, then promptly branched into two halls.
"Uh oh..." Edelweiss whispered as she clutched at my skirt.
"Hm...Let's just choose one hall and come back if we hit a dead end." Garry suggested.
"Okay sounds good." I looked to the right, "This way first then?" Edelweiss and Garry both nodded in agreement. We turned to the right. Not far down that hall we found a picture that covered the entire wall. There was nothing around it, no other hall to go down. It looked like a dead end.
"Should we go back?"
"Not yet Ib, let's see if we can open this painting like we did in the rainbow room."
"Good plan." Garry and I immediately moved to the frame and tried to pry it off.
"HEY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Augh!" Garry had fallen backwards onto the ground.
I jumped about a foot in the air, promptly releasing the frame."W-who was that?!" Still in shock, Garry shakily pointed at the frame I stood beside. The painting that had once been a black canvas now held a glowing face. It was not an articulated face to say the least, it was drawn as if with blue markers, delineating a pair of circle eyes, and a mouth with a red tongue sticking out.
"DON'T TRY TO PRY ME OPEN. I WON'T LET YOU THROUGH."
"W-why not?" Edeweiss asked quietly. I went to her side at once, wrapping my arms around her.
"BECAUSE I'M HUNGRY."
Garry stared at the painting suspiciously. "You're hungry?
"YES SIR. OH...BUT YOUR ROSES DO LOOK SCRUMPTOUS. HOW ABOUT IT, I'LL LET YOU THROUGH IF YOU GIVE ME ONE TO EAT." The painting eyed Edelweiss's white flower. She flinched. I pulled my rose from my pocket.
"No! Ib, don't do it!" Garry was on his feet now; he grasped me by my shoulders, "I told you, your rose is your life! Never forfeit your rose!"
Dazed, I blinked at him. "I wasn't going to give it to him..."
Garry relaxed and turned around to the face. "We'll search for something else for you to eat."
"VERY WELL THEN." Without another look at the painting, Garry took both Edelweiss and I by the wrist and lead us back the way we came. Once we were out of earshot, Edelweiss looked up at Garry.
"W-why did you get so angry at Ib, Mr. Garry?"
Garry's brow which had been furrowed, softened considerably. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off that way." The boy met my eyes, "I didn't want you to throw your life away."
I swallowed a gulp and nodded, "I know..." Garry's grip on my wrist slackened. We had arrived at our fork in the road again. To our left was the way we came and ahead was the left path from earlier. We continued walking straight. This hallway seemed much longer than the right hall, along the way I saw only one painting, a painting of a starry sky.
"There!" Edelweiss suddenly said. I turned my attention away from the starry sky. Straight ahead was a door; it was red just like the walls, I almost missed it altogether if it weren't for the gold door handle. Garry released my wrist completely now and walked ahead of us to open the door. We walked in and immediately stopped, our mouths gaping.
"Is this...?" To my left was a black wall, to my right was another one. Further down ahead were more walls with gaps between them just like...
"A maze..." Edelweiss groaned.
Garry shook his head, frustration written plainly on his face. "This is not good..." I couldn't help but silently agree.
"What's that?" The child pointed at something to our right. Garry turned to stare at the wall. Edging my way out from behind him, I saw that they were both looking at what looked like a window with a red curtain shade on it. As a collective, we approached the window cautiously. There was a shade tassel connected to the curtain. Without informing the others, I reached out and tugged it.
"Ah!" Garry stumbled backwards a few steps when the curtain snapped upward. Beneath it was a framed white painting with a black stick figure. Instantaneously, words began to appear in red below the painting. The violet haired boy took the liberty of reading it aloud, "Hide and seek! Find me and I'll give you a prize."
"What kind of-whoa!" This time it was me that gasped and pointed at the painting. The stick figure in the white painting had was nothing but white canvas in the frame. Edelweiss and Garry gasped.
After a moment's pause, Garry mumbled, "...I hate this place." I let out a nervous laugh and pat him on the shoulder.
"So...I guess we need to find the stick person?"
"Yeah..." Edelweiss suddenly took off ahead of us, her long platinum blonde hair flying behind her. She ran until the next block of wall where she stopped and stared.
Calling out I asked, "What is it?"
"There's another painting!" Garry and I exchanged a glance before racing to the little girl's side. Once before the new painting, we stared at it.
"Here goes nothing." Garry gave the shade tassel a deft tug. The curtain rolled up revealing a bare woman's backside. I didn't have a moment to register shock as my hands had instantly flown to cover Edeweiss's face. The painting let out a scream, like a woman caught in the shower. Out of nowhere, a pale hand appeared and smacked Garry across the face!
"Oww!" Garry staggered backwards, the curtain before us rolled back down on its own accord. I saw the boy reach into his pocket and pull out his blue rose. A petal fell from it, drifting slowly down to the ground.
"That was pretty un-cool." I eyed Garry as I spoke, giggling. Edelweiss's small hands moved to displace mine.
"W-what was that Ib?" She turned to face me wonderingly.
"Er...nothing..." I smiled innocently. The child did not question me but looked from Garry's rose down to the petal on the ground.
The violet haired boy grimaced as he rubbed his face. "Looks like this will be an annoying game. We have to flip up curtains until we find the stick figure, who knows how many crazy paintings are in here."
"Should we split up?"
"Good plan Edelweiss. You go with Ib." Edelweiss nodded and took my hand as Garry continued with the plan. "We'll go different ways and call out to each other if we find the stick figure okay?"
"Okay!" Edelweiss pointed to the left, "Ib! Let's go this way!"
"Alright." Letting the child drag me in her desired direction, I turned to look at Garry. "Be careful."
He looked startled for a moment, as if no one had said that to him before then smiled, "I sure will Ib." When we rounded the corner, he was no longer in sight. Down a straight road we walked, both Edelweiss and I looked for curtains but found none. It wasn't till we'd turned another corner and looked to our left did we see another red curtain. Approaching it, Edelweiss turned to me.
"I'll go this time."
"What?"
"Something might pop out and take our petals right?" Edelweiss looked me full in the eye. "I'll go first this time and then you can do the next one."
"But, you've only got five petals, I should-"
"No! I don't want to be useless! I-I've...always been protected...I just...want to protect Ib." The girl threw herself at me and hugged on tightly. I was stunned, but reciprocated. After a moment she let go and looked me in the eye. There was a ferocity unbecoming for a child so young, it was unsettling yet for one reason or another, I could see I wasn't going to win this argument.
I'd been like that once. As the younger sister, I'd always been sheltered and guarded my whole life. Mary was always given more privileges while I quietly sat by and watched. She was allowed to go ice skating when she turned 11, I was sent to the library. When she fell and broke her ankle when she was 13, mother forbade me from learning ice skating. I'd always resented that decision but at that age, I could not overturn my matriarch's judgement calls.
"Alright, I understand. You can do it first, Edelweiss." I pat her atop her head. Her soft hair was like fur rather than strands, she was like a small animal. I couldn't help but smile at her; she returned the smile and took a deep breath before pulling the the tassel.
The curtain rose to show a large gaping mouth. Quickly, I pulled Edelweiss backwards away from the painting, not a second too late either, a long tongue had emerged from the painting, swiping out and hitting the spot where Edelweiss's neck was a moment ago. The curtain rolled down as soon as the tongue withdrew. Both of my hands were on the girl's shoulders, I felt when she tensed up the moment she saw the mouth.
"T-that was close..."
"Yes it was." I squeezed her shoulders gently. "Let's move on." We turned to our right and continued to the next painting not too far away. This time I made sure Edelweiss was standing behind me by about a meter. I marvelled at myself; I'd always been the younger sister but now here I was, a protector of the small. I suppose people change when exposed to situations like this... Bravely, I gave the tassel a firm curtain rolled up to reveal a lovely moon painting.
Instantly, all the lighting in the room went dim, I gasped and seized Edelweiss's arm. The curtain dropped back down over the moon but the lights did not come back.
"Ib! Edelweiss!" Garry's voice was coming from somewhere north of us.
"Garry! We're fine! We pulled a curtain open and the lights dimmed!" I had to throw my voice for fear that he couldn't hear me.
"Alright, I'm coming to you!" The sounds of heavy footfalls resounded around in the maze.
"No we're fine! Just, keep looking for the stick man!" Edelweiss called back. Garry's footsteps slowed in the distance. "We'll all get back together when one of us finds him!"
"Okay!"
With that, we turned back to our search. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness now, I could see a good few meters before us. Just another wall away was yet another curtain; Edelweiss dashed up to it and stopped.
"Go ahead." I called to her, the girl hesitated. "Should I do it?"
"No. I'm okay." She squared her small shoulders and tugged on the tassel. The curtain rolled up revealing a large knife. This time I wasn't quick enough; the knife came straight out of the painting and slashed at the girl. Edelweiss must have anticipated something violent; she ducked down and the knife sliced an inch off of her hair. When she stood up, the knife had already been hidden by the curtain. I glanced at her rose and saw that no petals had fallen. Sighing inwardly, I realised that we'd been very lucky.
"Ib!" Garry's voice was somewhere closer now. "Edelweiss!"
"Here! We're here!"
A minute or so passed until the he found us. He had his ligher out to show him the way; he waved to us triumphantly with something in his hand. "I found him!"
"Oh goodie!" Edelweiss skipped over the him, I joined a moment later. "What did you get?" "This." Garry pocketed his lighter and crouched down to open his hand for the child to see. "I'm not sure what we can do with this besides eat it, but I suppose it's something." A green pear was sitting in his palm, I could tell immediately even in the dark from its texture that it was a real fruit. I gave it a tentative prod.
"This is perfect."
Garry looked at me confused, "Perfect for what?"
"Perfect to give to the hungry painting!" Edelweiss laughed, "Ingenious Ib!"
The boy grinned and gave me a pat on the back, "Alright then, let's go!" He pulled out his lighter again and walked before us. Slowly, we felt our way out of the maze.
On the way, I looked towards Garry, he seemed to be paler than before. Maybe it was the fire light, but I could not keep my question to myself. "Hey, did you lose any petals?" Garry's eye darted towards me.
"Yeah...just a few..."
"You look so pale."
Garry smiled wanely, "Yeah, I'm just a bit...sleepy. Hopefully we'll come across a vase soon." I bit my lip. I hope we find one soon too, I thought. After another turn or two, we found the exit. Leaving the maze behind us, we took a straight path to the hungry painting.
When we arrived at the painting it seemed to be sleeping. Garry cleared his throat loudly.
"OH. WELCOME BACK."
"We've brought you some food."
"WONDERFUL." Garry produced the fruit. "AH... HOW MOUTHWATERING. PITY, MY MOUTH ISN'T BIG ENOUGH."
"What? You can't chew?" The boy's voice was irritated, if slightly impatient. I shifted uneasily from my left foot to my right foot. "That's preposterous, you're a magical painting aren't you?"
"YES BUT MY CREATOR DID NOT GIFT ME WITH A SET OF TEETH." The blue face almost sounded woeful. Edelweiss suddenly tugged at my skirt.
"Edelweiss?"
"Ib, you picked up a knife earlier didn't you?"
It took me a moment to realise what she said, "O-oh yeah!" Yeah I did! Good thinking!"Garry high fived the child as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the fruit knife. "Garry, the pear!" He handed the fruit to me and I sliced it carefully into four pieces. Handing them back to him, he fed the hungry painting piece by piece.
After a few moments, the fruit was gone; the painting was making all sorts of satisfied noises like a person smacking his lips together. "THAT WAS FANTASTIC. I THANK YOU VERY MUCH."
"Don't mention it." Garry replied, "Now, if you would honour your end of the agreement, that would be highly appreciated."
"OF COURSE. GO ON THROUGH." The face disappeared as the large frame swung open.
"Shall we?" Garry motioned for us to enter first.
"Let's go!" Edelweiss tugged at my arm excitedly, I couldn't help but smile as my companions and I went through the painting.