"So I see..." Garry soon said after a long introduction and brief recap on what had happened to the young almost adult girl and two little girls. "You don't have any clue how things got to this point either."

"I'm afraid so, yes." Giselle nodded.

"It would seem we wound up in similar situations, I have to say..." Garry replied mysteriously before he brought out his blue rose. "Even down to these roses. Wounds appear on me when my rose loses its petals. I thought I was a goner there... Thank you for getting it back."

"You're welcome." The girls replied politely.

"Well, now, girls, it's dangerous for a child to be alone," Garry said to Eloise and Ib before looking towards Giselle. "You're very lucky that your big sister is here to protect you."

Eloise looked very grateful for that fact while Ib gave a small smile.

"Now, first thing's first, we better find a way out," Garry said before he held out his hand for Ib to hold while Giselle would hold Eloise's hand. "I think I'll go mad if I stay in this dreaded place for too long. I'm afraid I can't let a bunch of girls wander into danger, so I'll go with you."

"Yes, yes, yes," Giselle nodded. "We should stick together, Garry."

"What a lovely accent you have, Giselle," Garry smiled. "Are you from Manchester?"

"Oh, um, no," Giselle chuckled bashfully. "I used to go to boarding school in London, plus our caretaker is from Hartford. She's been with us when Eloise was about to be born, so I guess she rubbed off on me."

"Still a lovely accent nonetheless," Garry smiled. "Now, let's go, girls!"

And so, they walked off together before the tongue dangling portrait soon spit in the middle of the floor which startled the young man.

"HYEEEEK!" Garry shrieked as he fell on his back suddenly.

Eloise and Ib couldn't help but giggle at Garry's fearful cry as it was a little funny.

"Girls~..." Giselle lightly called as that seemed rude.

"Ahem! I was just startled is all..." Garry said bashfully before he got back up on his feet. "Anyways, let's keep going and look out for such bizarre things as that."

And so, they walked off with their new friend as they tried to look for a way out of the gallery. Giselle did her best to put on a brave face. If it was one thing she knew about small children is that if you were worried, they would suddenly feel worried and a worried child was a handful to deal with, especially with their wild imaginations and perspectives on the world around them. They soon walked into the next hallway and stumbled into the headless statue that blocked one door.

"What a lousy place for this thing!" Garry huffed. "Step back a tad, would you, girls?" he then requested as he would take care of the problem.

The girls stepped out of the way as Garry mustered up his strength and pushed the headless statue out of the way. After all, he was a bit stronger and older than them, so it was nothing compared to him.

"Ta-da!" Garry announced with a smile. "Now we can proceed. All right, let's go!"

They soon went in through the door now that they could leave the red room.

And so, they ended up in the gray room, reminding Eloise and Giselle of the hotel's laundry room where the maids such as Rose, Esperanza (a pair of sisters and Rose was Eloise's friend Margarita's mother who lived with her father, but often visited), Johanna the Day Maid (who was a dear friend of Nanny's), Mabel the Afternoon Maid (who often shared rumors and gossip on Eloise and Giselle's mother, such as spending a lot of time with various men she would meet in her travels to Europe and Paris), and Lily the Night Maid (who married the engineer of the subway and often handed out extra pillowcases and soap). They saw portraits on both sides of a bride and groom with Grieving Hands of the bride at the end of each portrait. Giselle noticed they were missing some rings, so maybe that would help calm them down.

"I went to a wedding once," Eloise said. "The bride's flower girl was sick and she asked me to replace her. I also go to all of the weddings in The White & Gold Room and I usually stay for the reception."

"You have quite an interesting life for a child of six." Garry said in amusement.

"Yes." Eloise nodded.

"She really does.," Giselle chuckled a bit. "Now... I think we should look for some wedding rings and maybe the bride won't be in such grief."

"...Perhaps she needs a new flower girl?" Eloise piped up as they searched the hallways of the gray room.

They came to the end of one hallway and Ib let out a yelp as suddenly, eyeballs appeared in the middle of the floor. Garry let out a horrified scream, especially as one eye was pink, red, and puffy. Perhaps it had a congestion problem.

"What is that?!" Garry gulped. "Gross is what!"

"I'm afraid you're right, Garry." Giselle agreed as she felt repulsed by the eyeballs.

"Giselle, why are there eyes on the floor?" Eloise asked her older sister.

"I'm afraid I don't know, El," Giselle replied. "But I don't like it!"

They soon walked away and came into another room which appeared to be a maze. A few things stuck out from the gray room which were red, including a mannequin's dress with a couple of blood splatters. Things were starting to get very interesting around here indeed. Even "rawther" unusual. They left the room for now before they soon passed by the eyeballs again and luckily, they didn't attack as they made it down the hall.

They passed more interesting portraits and soon came in through one door which had stools and painting easels everywhere.

"Ronda would love it here." Giselle said.

"A friend of yours?" Ib spoke up.

"Yes, yes, yes," Giselle nodded. "She just absolutely loves art. I hope she can go to a school for it after graduation."

"That means Giselle will be all done with school." Eloise then explained what graduation was.

"Right." Giselle said softly as that just reminded her that she probably had to find a job after finishing school, though Nanny assured her she could stay home for as long as she would like which the older girl hoped to do, especially since "Mother" was almost never home in New York City.

It seemed to be important to arrange the stools in a certain way. The girls and Garry did all they could, trying to use their brains and strategy to solve the puzzle before they soon did it and something appeared in the stool for their feat. It appeared to be eyedrops. These could be very useful. They soon returned to the eyeball swarm and noticed that the congested eye stared at them as though it could sense the eyedrops. The eye seemed to blink once it was cured before staring intentely to the wall and gave the eyedrops back.

"You're welcome, Mr. Eye." Eloise said with a curtsy.

"This is just getting more and more queer." Giselle remarked to herself.

The wall then seemed to change colors as a secret passageway was shown and found. Giselle came into the room as she told the others to stay back for just in case as she found something on the ground.

"What was it, Giselle?" Garry asked as the girl came back.

"Just a red glass ball," Giselle replied before looking at Eloise. "And no, we're not going to bounce it or add it to our marble collection."

"Yes, Giselle." Eloise said softly.

Giselle nodded before walking back out into the hallway with Garry, Eloise, and Ib. They found a portrait of a white snake and Giselle thought maybe the red glass ball belonged there and put it inside the eye socket which made another portrait on the right of it fall to the floor.

"There is a writing on the back of the portrait." Ib piped up.

"What does it say?" Garry asked.

"It says 'Behind the big tree'." Ib read aloud.

"Hmm... I guess that's a clue to something," Giselle remarked. "Possibly a clue on where those rings must be for the grieving bride's hands."

"You might be right." Garry agreed.

The group wandered out a bit before they noticed a door that wasn't there before. They all took deep breaths and tried to calm down before coming in through the door to see four different pieces of artwork. The lights flickered on and off which seemed to be a bit spooky at first.

"This one looks like a glass of wine." Giselle said as she approached the first one on the left.

"A wine sofa," Garry said out of amusement and intrigue. "That doesn't look like very comfortable sitting."

"This one is... Um... Uh..." Eloise said to a head bust, trying to read the plaque aloud.

Giselle took a look to help her little sister out. "Sound it out." she then suggested.

"Mel... Melon... Melon... Ch... Ch... Olly?" Eloise tried.

"Close enough, but it's melancholy'," Giselle said with slow pronunciation. "It's a very, very, very sad feeling."

Eloise then nodded as she learned a new word.

"I didn't know that." Ib replied as that word was new to her too.

"Melancholy, huh?" Garry remarked. "Well really, who wouldn't be in a place like this?"

They then came to a colorful looking skeleton which was known as "Puzzle".

"Don't be scared," Giselle assured Eloise and Ib. "These aren't real bones."

They then came to the final piece which appeared to be a shrub or a bush of some kind.

"You gotta be pretty clever to come up with this stuff." Garry marveled at the sight, feeling curious and amazed.

"Wait! It's a tree!" Giselle realized. "Something was said about being behind a tree. Remember?" she then asked the others.

"Right!" Eloise added as she remembered that too. "And there's something gleaming behind the leaves! Can I go get it, Gissy?" she then asked her sister.

"All right, but be careful." Giselle advised.

Eloise went behind the leaves and she soon found a silver ring. Giselle looked relieved and blessed as that seemed to be one missing clue from when they started in the gray room.

"Isn't this... A wedding ring?!" Garry's visible eye widened. "Now what would this be doing here?"

They soon left the room and came back to the bride's grabbing hands. Since Eloise had the ring, Giselle told her younger sister where to put the ring and it was on the left ring finger which soon made the hands stop wiggling. The bride in the portrait smiled warmly before she soon tossed her flower bouquet and it fell out from the painting and ended up in Eloise's arms in an instant.

"Good thinking, Giselle." Garry smiled.

"Thanks, Garry." Giselle replied bashfully.

"I do hope my Lavender has a lovely bouquet like that someday." Garry then said.

"Erm... Who's Lavender?" Giselle asked.

"My fiancée," Garry explained. "I'm sorry you cannot meet her right now, but she is a very lovely girl."

Giselle felt a little jealous at first, but she decided not to be rude about it, though maybe Garry was best as a friend. "Well... I'm happy for you," she then said to him softly. "I hope you can go back to her and have a joyful wedding."

"Thank you, I hope so too." Garry smiled warmly as he hoped he would get out of here and go back home to his dearly beloved.

The bride and groom were soon both blessed and it was time to go onto the next puzzle. A lot of time passed. It felt like an eternity as Garry and Giselle did whatever they could to get Eloise and Ib out of the way of certain paintings that could actually harm them. Garry wasn't as good at staying brave for Ib as Giselle was for Eloise, but it was hard to blame him really. It seemed to get worse every step of the way, but it was a lot better with Garry there as he was the real adult after all. Giselle just thought about the times whenever Eloise would have a nightmare.

Giselle found herself imagining those times. She was fast asleep in her bed as were Eloise and Nanny. Sometimes Eloise would go to sleep right away, but not very often. Sometimes, Weenie, Skipperdee, and Eloise would go into the closet and look around for a while and they would find themselves in a cave as Eloise's imagination would conquer over reality. Eloise would drag herself through her stomach along with the pug dog and turtle and her heart would be beating fast. Not even witch hazel cotton on her toenails to ward off evil spirits could help her.

This was one of the reasons Nanny was thankful that Giselle had come back home to keep an eye on her little sister and go to the local prep school rather than a boarding school across the country. Nanny would be suddenly woken up with a flashlight in her face and she would have to soothe Eloise from her nightmares or any "wild animals" that were in the closet like the time they visited Africa for a holiday. Nanny often had to wake up to spoil and pamper Eloise while she was, in the six-year-old girl's words, "Out of her head with fever and pain". After all, she was only six. However, since Giselle was home, the teenage girl suggested that if her little sister were to have a nightmare to come call for her instead of Nanny so that the older woman could get as much rest as she could.

"Ellie, did you have another nightmare?" Giselle asked as she peeked into her little sister's room of the suite as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.

"Yes," Eloise pouted as she hugged her doll who was named Saylor. "The storm is being quite rumbly and rude."

"I'm sorry about that," Giselle coaxed before she came into bed with her little sister and held onto her, gently stroking her blonde hair. "Do you feel scared?"

"...Not too much," Eloise said softly before looking down to her pet turtle. "...But I think Skipperdee might be."

"Well, let's share a song for Skipperdee to help get back to sleep now," Giselle smiled. "Nanny used to sing this to me before you were born and a storm bothered me."

Eloise smiled back hopefully as she loved it when her big sister would sing to her.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper packages tied up with strings~," Giselle began to sing as Weenie and Skipperdee seemed to bob their heads to the song as the girl swung herself and Eloise back and forth a bit to the beat of the song. "These are a few of my favorite things, Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, Doorbells and sleigh bells, And schnitzel with noodles~"

"What's... Um... Shnit... That thing you just said?" Eloise spoke up.

"It's meat from German, it's very, very, very yummy actually," Giselle replied before she kept going. "Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings, These are a few of my favorite things, Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes~"

"I like those too." Eloise smiled.

"Silver-white winters that melt into springs, These are a few of my favorite things~," Giselle smiled back as she continued. "When the dog bites~"

Weenie let out a small growl like that part of the song offended him.

"When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things... And then I don't feel so bad~" Giselle soon concluded as Eloise seemed to feel much better and fell asleep in her big sister's arms. "...Eloise? Eloise?"

Eloise's only response was a light snore as she drifted off before the song ended.

"Good night, Eloise." Giselle said softly as she soon began to leave the room, but just as she got to the door to shut it for the night...

"Gissy?" Eloise's voice piped up as she hugged her doll.

"Yes, Ellie?" Giselle replied from the door.

"Could you leave the door open to a crack with the hall light on?" Eloise asked softly before looking down. "...I think Skipperdee would feel much better with it."

"...Of course," Giselle smiled softly as she did as her sister asked. "Good night."

"Good night, Giselle." Eloise smiled back before falling back asleep.

"Giselle... Giselle..." A voice called.

Giselle squeezed her eyes shut before rubbing her eyes and opened them again.

"Are you okay?" Garry asked. "You got quiet all of a sudden."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Giselle said softly. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind about this whole art gallery visit."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Garry nodded before looking at the younger girls. "How about you two? You okay?" he then asked with a smile, serene smile.

"Yeah!" Eloise and Ib replied, slightly startled, but not too scared this time.

"Come on, let's hide in here until the commotion dies down," Garry said before he found a door and decided to shut all of them inside of it. "There's nothing in here, but..."

The four soon found a mirror and simply looked into it to see themselves there. There was a mannequin head though. When did that get in here?

"Was this always here?" Garry wondered.

The head soon appeared to be right behind them in the reflection which startled Garry. Eloise and Ib couldn't help but laugh a little at Garry's screams of fear.

"W-W-What is that?!" Garry gulped as he looked like he was about to kick it.

"It's just a mannequin," Eloise smiled softly. "No need to hurt it."

"You're right... I guess that was a bit immature of me," Garry replied, a bit more relaxed now. "Let's go then."

They soon left the room as more headless statues and portrait women came out to them. Garry decided to take the lead to make sure the girls would be safe away from the possessed artwork.

"Garry, I see an open door!" Giselle spoke up.

"Come on, let's go!" Garry replied as he ran them through the door.

Ib let out a sigh of both relief and sadness. Garry shut the door behind them as they took the time to catch their breaths.

"That was a close one..." The young man sighed.

Ib and Eloise suddenly let out shrieks.

"Girls?" Giselle gasped. "What is it?"

"Th-Those paintings..." Eloise said softly.

"Mom... Dad..." Ib stammered as she saw a portrait of her parents.

"Nanny... Phillip..." Eloise added at the one she found.

"Nanny..." Giselle repeated as her heart sank. "Why are they in a painting?"

"You're saying these are your parents?" Garry asked.

"Yes, Ib's parents and mine and Eloise's nanny and Eloise's tutor." Giselle explained.

"I suppose Ib does resemble her parents," Garry remarked. "Where are your parents, Eloise and Giselle?"

"Mother goes to Paris and to Europe and always sends for us if there's some sun or something like that." Eloise spoke up while Giselle just felt cold and distant from that question and the topic of their mother, though their father was another story which just made the teenage girl feel like crying.

"But why would such paintings be down here?" Garry wondered as Giselle wiped the tear rolling down her cheek away before anyone else could see it.

The girls were just quiet from Garry's speaking.

"Girls... Are you okay?" Garry then asked as they were silent. "You don't look so good."

Suddenly, Ib and Eloise fell in the middle of the floor.

"GIRLS!" Garry yelped.

"Oh, my!" Giselle gasped once she snapped herself out of her trance and saw what had happened. "Ellie, are you alright?"

"Hey, girls, what's wrong?" Garry asked with a frown as the girls seemed to black out before looking at Giselle. "Help me get them settled."

"Of course." Giselle nodded as she helped out while thinking about when she had to help out with Nanny back when Eloise was just a baby, but something else tragic happened around when the teenage girl's baby sister was just that: a baby.

Eloise and Ib were both in the middle of a safe floor and Garry gave them his jacket to comfort them as this art gallery trip proved to be stressful and overwhelming for them. Giselle looked down at them as she thought of another memory.

Giselle was only 10 when this happened and was almost 11 as her birthday was coming very soon. It also happened to be Valentine's Day when she would become another year of age. Young Giselle stared out the window as she hugged her knees, sitting on the seating of her window as something had happened that she wished hadn't happened or at least it would come back in a positive way somehow, though it seemed unlikely.

She liked being an older sister, it was actually a lot of fun, even though a lot of friends, especially boys, in school would tease her and said that a new baby was nothing but trouble. She also liked the company of Nanny who was originally there to help Eloise and Giselle's mother around the house and help take care of the baby. She did not live close to them, but she had her own place not too far away and would come first thing in the morning to help prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the mother and daughters as well as feeding and changing Eloise when necessary.

However, one day, Giselle turned her head as she heard the sounds of crying. Nanny was running a little late and her mother to stay home and wait for the older woman to come over. Giselle wasn't sure what to do, she had tried to call Nanny, but she wasn't picking up her telephone and her own mother appeared to be too busy. The crying grew louder and stronger which made Giselle's heart break as it always hurt her to hear her baby sister crying, especially if it wasn't for a new diaper or a bottle. She just hoped it wasn't a new diaper considering Giselle didn't know how to change a baby quite yet, but she asked Nanny to help teach her for in case situations like this would happen.

Giselle soon came into the nursery as Eloise cried her tiny eyes out and wriggled. "Oh, Ellie, what ever is wrong?" she then pouted as she came over to the crib to see her baby sister in distress before she soon picked her up and held her, remembering the proper training she was given on how to hold her little sister.

Eloise simply kept crying as her eyes were nearly as pink as the bedroom. Giselle checked her baby sister's diaper, but luckily it was clean. Giselle then tried to give Eloise her bottle, but that didn't seem to do the trick either. A pigeon seemed to fly by the window of the nursery and tilted its head as it looked at the two sisters.

Giselle then thought of a soothing song to help out as Nanny sang this to her for when the older woman stayed overnight for emergencies. After all, Nanny wasn't just there for Eloise, but also Giselle whenever the situation called for it.

"Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?" Giselle offered to Eloise.

Eloise seemed to stop crying and seemed to actually nod at her big sister. Giselle knew just what to sing as she came to the rocking chair in the room which was by the window as she opened the window to let fresh air inside. The pigeon seemed to coo and stare at the two sisters. The bird was inspiration for what Giselle would sing and she even sang it to Eloise when they were six and 17 and Eloise first found an interest in pigeons, including one who would stare at Eloise while the young girl would brush her teeth and fly off to the Sherry-Netherlands and a pigeon friend named Emily who had a baby born on Christmas morning who Eloise named Raphael.

"Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's, The little old bird woman comes, In her own special way to the people she calls, Come, buy my bags full of crumbs, Come feed the little birds, show them you care and you'll be glad if you do, Their young ones are hungry, Their nests are so bare~," Giselle began to sing the best that she could as she carried Eloise as the pigeon sat at the window sill, not disturbing them. "All it takes is tuppence from you, Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag, 'Feed the birds', that's what she cries, While overhead, her birds fill the skies, All around the cathedral the saints and apostles, Look down as she sells her wares., Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling, Each time someone shows that he cares, Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you, 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag'~"

Eloise seemed to like the song so far.

"Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you, 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag'~" Giselle sang softly before she finished the song ended and Eloise seemed to fall back asleep which had the older girl put her baby sister back into her crib. "...I will always be there for you, Eloise... I love you so much."

A/N: Obviously I don't own the two songs used in this chapter. Lavender is also an OC created by my dear friend AnnaleaseTurner.