Chapter 8 – Meeting the Yellow Rose

AN:

Oni: Woooo! Mary is formally introduced in this chapter! Okay I know I didn't write the encounter but still WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO. To be honest she wasn't my favorite character but my heart goes out to the poor girl. Speaking of which…

Mary: Oni does not own meeeee or Harryyyyyyyyyy or Garryyyyyyyy or this storyyyyyy up to chapter ten! Buuuuuuut she doooooooes own some details in the storyyy Teeheehee!

As they entered, a yellow blur ran into Harry. Harry was startled at the sudden force, so he pushed it away. Looking down, he was shocked to see a young blonde haired girl lying there.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked worriedly as he approached the girl.

The younger girl stared up at him with wide blue eyes. She got up and backed away from him.

"Ah! Wait!" Garry called out to the girl. Garry slowly walked over to the young girl. "Hey, are you... Could you be one of the visitors to the gallery?"

The girl looked at Garry, eyes still wide as she said, "Y-yeah, I am..."

"As I thought..." Garry murmured. "I am Garry." He said, introducing himself.

Harry slowly walked out from behind Garry and stood by his side. "... I'm Harry."

The girl, still looking shocked, was quiet. She could only stare at them. Garry continued to explain their story, "We were in the art gallery, but then somehow found ourselves lost in this place... So now we're both trying to find a way out. Presumably, you're doing the same?"

The girl looked sad as she said, "I... I was looking to see if there was anyone else too... I wanted to get out... So I..." Before the girl could finish, Garry interrupted her and joyously invited her, "Ah, I knew it! Well, would you like to come with us?"

"Huh...?" was her reply, a quizzical expression on her face. Garry explained, "It's dangerous to be alone here. There are lots of strange creatures around." He asked her again, "So will you come with us? I think it would be best if we all stay together."

The girl's expression brightened. "Yeah! I'll come...!" Garry smiled and said, "Then it's decided! Oh, what's your name?"

The girl stared at them for a bit before slowly responding, "Mary..." Garry, not bothered by this, replied, "Mary, then! Nice to meet you!" She answered with a simple, "... Yeah!"

Shyly, Mary walked over to Harry. "Um... Nice to meet you, Harry..." Garry had been so mature and courteous with this stranger, so Harry remembered his manners. "Nice to meet you too, Mary."

The girl giggled. "Teehee... Thanks!"

Garry turned to the both of them, "All right! Now that we have more company, we can proceed with our spirits high!" Mary smiled cheerfully and exclaimed, "Yay!" She reached out and grabbed Harry's hand,

pulling him forward. Harry chuckled at the girl's antics before reaching out and grabbing Garry's hand.

Together, they walked down the hall, a little more vigor in their step. They all felt ready to face the challenges ahead. Garry certainly felt a little more comfortable with someone else to walk beside with.

Mary looked happy to have found company. Harry felt... Well, he guessed that it was nice to have more company. However, something just felt... off. The girl oozed some kind of aura, but again for many times that day, what it reminded him of was very elusive.

Suddenly, Garry stopped, stopping the rest of them. "Harry, there's a vase the other way. You should heal your rose." Harry smiled softly. "Okay. Thanks, Garry."

They went over to the vase and placed both their roses in. A new white petal grew back on Harry's rose and two blue petals grew back on Garry's.

"When did you get hurt, Garry?" Harry asked.

Garry rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Well, when we were being chased by all of the painting women and statues, I was hit by a few of them. In the safe room, I was worrying about other issues at hand, so I kind of forgot to heal."

Harry's eyes narrowed at Garry's explanation. It seemed that Garry was becoming careless; he was worrying about other issues more than his own health. Harry's mouth opened.

"Say... Seeing as Harry and I both have roses..." Garry started, hoping to escape the lecture that he knew was about to come. "Mary, do you have a rose as well?" Harry glared at the older teen and sent him a look clearly saying: "I will lecture you later. You will not escape your fate." Garry gulped.

Mary reached into her pocket, not noticing the exchange. She pulled out a pretty, bright rose. "... Yeah, I do! A yellow rose!"

Garry suddenly smiled. "Ah, it's true!" His expression turned serious as he warned them, "You two keep those safe. Don't you dare lose it. And don't give it to anyone. And..." Garry stopped his own lecture to see if they were listening.

It seemed Mary was preoccupied with something else. "Wooow, Harry's rose is whiiiite! My rose is yellooow!" She put her rose away and said, "I like yellow, but I also like pink. Oh, and blue!"

Garry looked annoyed as he shook his head back and forth. "... Learn to listen, would you?" Harry snickered under his breath.

Mary smiled cheerfully. "Come on! Let's go!" She grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him down the hall. Garry was forced to jog to catch up with them.

Harry was honestly shocked at how the girl acted. What was her secret to happiness in such a dreary place? The only happiness Harry got was from being with Garry, so how could she have been so happy?

'Maybe she could teach me later...' Harry thought, grabbing Garry's hand once he had caught up with them. 'I've been alone with the Dursleys

for so long; it would be helpful if I learn how to be happy when I'm with them.'

In the next room, there was a notice on the wall. It read, "Which one could it be?" Another cryptic message. Only time could tell what it means. The trio continued on.

They came to a painting titled, "Flowers of Jealousy". The painting was devoid of anything related to flowers or even plants, it just looked like a simple maze with a red dot in the center.

There were two doors; right and left. They went over to the door on the right and Garry turned the knob.

"It's locked." Garry told them. They all went over to the door on the left side and entered.

Inside the room was a fairly odd surprise. Owls. Owls everywhere. Pink and white owls galore. A lone green owl ornament caught Harry's eye. Perhaps this was what the notice was referring to; the odd one out.

Before investigating the discolored owl, they checked out their surroundings. There were tables, stools, and some bookshelves. At the end of the room was a giant picture of a pink owl titled "Red Eyes". Garry finally had enough.

"... the love of..." he muttered. "This painting, this room... why must it be so unsettling?!"

Mary looked surprised. "Huh? Really...? I think it's cute..."

Garry was flabbergasted. "Wha...?! What about this is CUTE?!" Mary shrugged and replied, "I just think it is..." She turned to Harry. "What about Harry?"

Harry kind of agreed with Garry in all honestly; the staring red eyes of the owls were unsettling, but he lived with owls and even had a pet owl, so he couldn't exactly say that they weren't kind of cute. In his opinion, some owls were cute and even though the owl ornaments weren't really that cute, he didn't want to be rude to Mary.

"It's... cute." Harry said, a little hesitant.

Not noticing Harry's hesitance, her face lightened up. "I know, right?! It's so adorable!" Garry raised his arms in defeat. He sighed and said, "Enough of this... Let's just check the room and leave."

Garry took another look around the room. "I feel like I'm being watched in this room... Talk about unsettling."

They took a few steps when, suddenly, the green owl ornament fell and shattered into pieces. Carefully, they edged up to it and noticed something shiny amidst the shards. It was a key. Harry picked it up and they hurried out of the room.

As they were going through the hall, they heard a noise coming from "Flowers of Jealousy", so they stopped in front of it. Harry stood directly in front of it, Garry on his left and Mary on his right, the three of them all stared at it. Something was emerging from the canvas.

"Huh...? That sound's... getting closer..." Mary said quietly. The frame rumbled and shook violently. A thorny rose burst from the painting. Shooting up from right behind Harry were three thorny vines.

Garry gasped and Mary screamed, "Something came up from the ground!" The ground began to tremble, and Garry shouted, "T-This is bad! Get away from the painting!"

The ground began to crack from underneath Harry. Immediately, Mary screamed out, "Harry! Watch out!" Mary grabbed Harry's arm and yanked him away just as another thorny vine shot out of the ground.

With the worst of it over, Harry glanced around and realized that Garry wasn't with them. He and Mary approached the vines. "Are you two alright?!" Garry asked worriedly from the other side. Mary wrapped her arms around Harry and buried her head into his chest. "Ahhh... That scared me!"

Harry unconsciously stiffened before wrapping his arms around Mary, trying to comfort her. He was visibly shocked and thought about what had happened. If it hadn't been for Mary, he would have been seriously hurt. "Harry? Are you hurt?" Garry asked him.

"No... I'm alright, but I'm just... scared..." Harry admitted. Garry was on the other side and he wasn't with him. He just had to hope that he and Mary would find a way to return to their older companion.

A deep sigh of relief came from the other side. "It certainly was starting... But as long as you're not hurt." Garry reached out to the vines. "But with these... things in the way, I can't get over there... Maybe I can cut it down?"

Garry's hand connected to the vines and he felt them. "... Wait, what's this?" They were smooth, solid, and cold. "These vines are made of stone…! What to do..." He closed his eyes, concentrated on SOMETHING. What that something was Harry did not know, but Garry seemed a bit exasperated that whatever it was, it didn't work.

As Garry thought, Mary pulled away from the embrace and asked, "... Hey, Harry. You got a key in that room, right?" Harry felt his pocket to see if it was still there. Sure enough, cool to the touch, was the key.

"Maybe that key..." she started. Mary pointed to the door ahead of them. "Opens that door there?"

Harry looked at the door and stared at it. 'Perhaps so.' Harry thought.

"We might find something to get rid of these in another room. Should we go look?" Mary asked. Garry seemed a little worried as he heard her suggestion. "Hmm... well... I wonder if you'll be okay..." he mumbled.

Mary turned her bright blue eyes to Harry and said, "We'll be fine! Right, Harry?" It was frightening to not have Garry with him, but nothing good would come out of staying here, stuck between stone vines.

Harry swallowed his fear and cleared his mind. At least he had Mary with him.

"I think we'll be fine..." Harry muttered.

"See, Harry thinks we'll be fine!" Mary said happily. Garry sounded a little sad as he mumbled, "M-My … Is that so..." Garry stood up straighter and said, "Well, I guess it's worth a try..."

Garry turned serious. "But if you don't find anything, make sure you come straight back, okay? Then we'll rethink about what we can do."

Mary nodded. "Yeah! Got it!" She turned to Harry. "Okay, let's go!"

Harry turned to the vines and waved, though Garry probably didn't see him. He hated being separated from others. He really hoped Mary and him would find something to reunite with Garry. Mary and him looked at each other, then stuck the key in to the lock. It fit and the door opened easily. They looked at each other again, took a deep breath, and ventured inward.