Chapter 19 - ANOTHER Scavenger Hunt? Bloody Hell!
AN:
Oni: Welcome back! Sorry for the wait, but hey, have a longer chapter!
Harry: For your information, this Dungeon is Hell.
Garry: Agreed, but we are almost done!
Mary: Almost out of here, yay!
Oni: Yup! But remember, dear readers, that the story is FAR from over. Union of Roses will continue even after the Gallery escape, which will hopefully happen in the chapter after this one.
Harry: So we really ARE almost done...
Oni: Yes! But first...
Garry: Oni does not own Ib nor Harry Potter, nor the majority of the first ten chapters. However, the fanfiction backstories and OCs are, indeed, hers.
Mary: OOOONWAAAARDS!
Oni: Hey, that's my line!
They were met with a split staircase, both going up. However, in the center of the split was a huge wall which held a large painting. It depicted a woman with long blue hair, wearing a gown of deep blue. She seemed to dance in the spotlight with a white and blue fan, with bystanders watched in Victorian party garb. Garry leaned down to read the placard below the frame.
"Queen of High Society..."
Suddenly the three of them heard applause emanate from the frame, before it died down. Harry blinked a few times before checking out how they were supposed to proceed. Glancing at either end of the wall, he realized that going up the left stairs or the right stairs made no difference. Mary seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and a plan formed in her head. She turned to Harry, smiling sweetly.
"Hey Harry..."
Harry turned around, just to be tapped on the shoulder by the shorter blonde girl.
"Tag! You're it!" she squealed before running up the right side set of stairs.
He touched the area where she tapped him, before a devious smile crept to his face. Harry turned to face a confused Garry, and tapped him on the arm.
"Tag, you're it!" he cried before running up the left end stairs.
Garry stood there for a moment, before realizing he was just duped into a game of tag. Making his decision, he ran up the left end set of stairs to pursue the smaller boy. Passing a few smaller frames depicting the railing of a theatre, Garry chased after the smaller boy who, while a good runner because of his old 'Harry Hunting' days, was no match for the older teen. He finally caught the boy at the top of the stairs, where there was a small painting of a man in a top hat, leaning lazily on the railing.
"Tag. You're it."
"Wow, Garry, you make it sound really menacing." said Harry with a smirk, looking up at the metamorphmagus.
Mary then rounded the corner to see what was taking Harry so long, before the raven haired child squirmed out of Garry's grip and chased after her, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Tag! I win!"
"Aww..."
"Better luck next time Mary." Garry replied, rolling his eyes at the two, "Now come on, let's get this dungeon over with, I don't really want to spend too much time in here, especially since it seems to be sapping out Harry's sanity." At this Harry's grin grew wider.
"Point taken."
With that, they rounded the bend to find the next set of stairs that were inset in the wall area, just like the exit to the Sketchbook was. Harry noted that the stairs went down.
"You know, we just had to climb a flight of stairs to reach another set of stairs that go down. In what universe does this make sense?"
"I have no idea..." Garry replied, groaning.
They walked down until the brown stairs and walls turned into a deep teal-blue color which, if it weren't in a creepy art gallery, would have been rather nice. Once the three of them reached the bottom, they heard the faint sound of haunting orchestra music. Walking a bit further, Harry read the little sign in front of a purple sculpture of...something.
"Annulated Woman?"
"What does that mean?" asked an inquisitive Mary.
"Composed of rings..."
"I don't see it." Harry stated bluntly.
"Neither do I." Garry replied in the same tone.
Harry strode on forward, before writing in the same teal-blue color was evident on the wall.
Drown in the abyss...
"...Is this another cryptic clue?" Garry mumbled from behind, but Harry just groaned.
"I fell into the Abyss of the Deep painting, it could be in reference to that." Garry sighed at that.
"Is it just me, or is this place getting creepier and creepier as we move through?"
"It's not just you."
With nothing else in the area, they proceeded to the next room, which was incredibly open with many pathways leading off and three giant sculptures incased in display rope. Harry walked up to the first, and largest, sculpture, which showed a brunette woman in a red dress embracing a skeletal figure in a red and white cape with a red and bronze king's crown on his head. The skeleton held the back of the woman's head with his right hand, and held a glittering golden sword in the left. Both figures were set coming out of a painting frame.
Tryst After Death
"'Tryst After Death,' hm..." Garry murmured, Harry facing him in confusion.
"What's a tryst?" The purple haired teen seemed to blanch.
"Hm? A tryst..." Garry tried to find the right words to explain, "Well, it's something like a secret meeting with someone you like."
"Why is it a secret?" Mary piped up, making Garry flustered for some reason.
"W-Well, er, I wonder..." Garry said, stumbling over his words, "It could be any number of reasons!"
Both Harry and Mary looked at him, confused.
"Is this like the book you told me that I shouldn't read until I was older?" Harry deadpanned.
This caught Garry off guard, but nonetheless he silently nodded, not trusting his voice. They spent a little time staring at the sculpture, before Garry spoke up again.
"That skeleton's cape... Why do you suppose it's so ragged?"
"Huh...it does remind me of your coat..." Harry replied with a smirk.
"Hey!"
"Just saying... Maybe it was made as a token to you?" the Boy Who Lived joked, causing Mary to giggle and Garry to roll his eyes.
"Very funny Harry... However... Why did Guertena make such a piece, I wonder? I can't help but be curious by what meaning he intended."
"I don't know, but let's face it. From what I saw of your ancestor, he was kind of obsessed over dark and creepy things like death and blood. It's a wonder he even painted something as cute as a little girl like Mary while also being the one that worked on Death of the Individual and the Ladies in Color."
"Ugh, don't remind me of those ladies..."
"Yeah, let's see something less creepy. At least that sculpture looks harmless. Kind of looks like a peeled potato..."
Walking over to the large potato shaped sculpture, Harry read the name.
"Flexible Stone...okay not a potato then."
"I kind of want to go up and touch it...just to see if it's really flexible or not."
"On the other hand, if you did, it could swallow you up and then no more Garry." Harry noted, making Garry shiver.
"What's a potato?" Mary wondered aloud, eliciting horrified looks from her two peers.
Harry decided to check out the last sculpture as Garry tried to explain to a thousand year old painting of an eleven year old who has never known the outside world what a potato was, and was actually impressed. It depicted a tilted wine glass on one side, with what seemed to be a rendering of the night sky above it. Part of the night sky was being poured inside the wine glass, stilled in the action of the liquid night sloshing inside it, while another part of the night sky just dripped down to the floor, almost like a suspended waterfall of night. Parts of the night sky still looked like it wanted to drip down into the floor, and yet still stood suspended in midair. Garry came over, his eye twitching, with a confused Mary and stood in front of the sculpture next to Harry.
"'Drinking in the Night'," Garry read aloud, "My, this is impressive... There's been so many strange pieces, but I might like this one." he turned to face Harry, "Do you like this, Harry?"
"Yeah, actually," Harry replied, not taking his eyes off it, "It's dark without being overly creepy, and actually makes you want to stare at it."
"I see... heehee." Garry chuckled at the younger boy's wording, "Yes, it's quite pretty. I'm fond of it as well."
"How is it able to float like that...?" Mary asked.
"Well, looking at the two base points, it could be a rather good balancing act." Garry supplied.
"Or it could be magic." Harry laughed out.
"True, it could be magic..." Garry faced the sculpture again, "I have to wonder what night tastes like..."
"I've been wondering the same thing." Harry said with a smile.
"So you can't drink the night then?" Mary asked, tilting her head to the side.
"No, Mary, you can't." Garry told her, sighing.
Harry grinned at Mary's antics, before something next to the sculpture caught his eye. It was a white square, lying on the floor.
"Hey, what's that?"
Walking up to it, the object made no movements, so Garry kneeled down to examine it.
"What could this be... A painting?" Garry asked aloud.
Indeed, it was a painting with no frame. Harry picked it up and tilted it from side to side.
"What are we supposed to do with this?" he asked to Garry, but before the teen could reply, it vanished in a swirl of colors. The three of them backed up as it disappeared into thin air; even so, each of them felt a strange sense of accomplishment.
"Whoa, it vanished... It reminds me of those balls of paint." the purple haired teen said after a few seconds.
"Balls of paint?" Harry asked, and Garry groaned while Mary looked a little sheepish.
"I had to collect balls of paint for some reason, and every time I grabbed one, it disappeared. I don't really know what it did..."
"It built a bridge for Harry." Mary said, looking down.
"Oh! That rainbow bridge!" Harry said aloud, remembering the time he crossed it. 'Was it only a few hours ago? It seemed a long time ago...' he thought.
"Yeah! The rainbow bridge!" the blonde girl giggled out.
"Well...if it's going to be another one of those puzzles, maybe we ought to collect all of these...painting parts."
"Another scavenger hunt? I think I've had enough crazy puzzles to last me a lifetime..." Harry mumbled.
Silently the trio decided to look around the current large room before checking out any of the offshoot hallways. Walking up to the area behind Tryst After Death, Harry noticed a large painting frame. There was a white square on the top right corner, a square that the small raven haired wizard recognized like the painting piece they gathered. Counting the empty spaces, he deducted that there were eleven more pieces to collect. Looking down at the placard, the child wasn't surprised to find it blank. Sighing Harry turned around to his two friends.
"Let's go check the rooms closer to the entrance first, then we'll go from there?" Garry offered.
"Sounds fair. So, left or right? Choose your poison!" Harry said slightly dramatically, making Garry sigh a little.
"Ooooh! Right! Right!" Mary piped up, smiling widely.
And so they crossed their fingers and headed towards the doorway on the right side, Harry grinning madly when it opened without a problem.
"So..."
"The Labyrinth but with stick figures, oh joy."
They were standing in a smaller room that had gray scribbles on both the walls and floor, done by something that had an artistic talent that was worse than Mary's. Zooming around at a speed that reminded Harry of that disastrous lesson with the Cornish pixies were small black stick figures that only went up to his knee in height. Looking to the left, Harry noticed a sign on the wall.
Avoid red, chase black
"I assume we have to catch the black stick figures then." Garry murmured, running his hand through his hair.
"Does that mean there are evil red stick figures as well?" Mary asked curiously.
"I would think so, yes. It makes the most sense."
"Thank Merlin I'm a Seeker. Those things look fast."
"Should we split up?" Mary wondered aloud.
"These things don't look particularly dangerous, but then again, this Gallery is full of surprises. I wouldn't put it past Guertena to make the red stick figures incredibly harmful or worse."
The trio decided to head downwards, where they found a book lying open on the ground, circled on the floor by the same grey charcoal all over the room. Looking at the cover, which said it was a 'Croquios Book', Garry spoke up.
"Perhaps the figures came out of this?"
"Maybe we have to catch them all and put them back in here!" Mary offered.
"Ugh, this is last year's first Defense class all over again." Harry groaned out.
"Well let's hurry up and catch them... I can't stand that charcoal smell."
"Hey guys...I think a see a red one coming this way..."
The red stick figure moved slower, but it's steps were more deliberate, having an actual goal to move to. They backed away from the oncoming drawing, and headed the other way. Turning to the left, and realizing that they might have shaken off the figure, they paused to catch their breath from sprinting. Near Garry's head was another painting, depicting a grey set of flowers in a grey vase upon a grey background. The plaque called it Flowers Without Color.
"Must be a greyscale painting." Garry remarked.
"Look there's one of those stick figures!" Mary shouted.
The unnaturally yellow haired girl dived for the taller looking figure and stuffed it into her pocket. It let out a surprised 'Eek' before falling still and silent.
"Got one!"
"Good job Mary!" commended Garry, and the girl herself grinned widely under the praise.
They passed a painting on the wall of a blue coffin with a white cross on top titled Insomnia Coffin and found a small slip of paper on the ground, which lay below a painting of a boy, but the perspective was zoomed in so the head and the feet were not visible. A poorly drawn set of feet and equally poorly drawn head surpassed the frames and were done in grey charcoal, undoubtedly by the roaming stick figures.
Incomplete Youth
"They even tore off the nameplate... They really do what they please." Garry grumbled out, slightly sneering at the running figures.
Harry ran down the corridor like area to pursue another figure, which he caught and pocketed, to find a stool and easel with some charcoal and a bit of bread that was covered in charcoal. On the easel was a drawing of a stick person.
"There's a lot of scribbling around this room..." Garry said aloud, looking around, "Was it all drawn by the stick figures?"
Harry didn't hear him as he sprinted off on his own, his Seeker skills coming in handy once again as he chased and pocketed three more figures. Turning to face where he had left the others, Harry called out.
"Come on guys, the sooner we catch these the sooner we can solve the puzzle!"
Grabbing another tiny figure as he ran, the raven haired boy had a determined look on his face as he set to catching the rest of the figures.
Garry, who heard the message, shrugged and ran to nab one of the running, living charcoal drawings. In doing so, he noticed something on the ground. Without hesitation, he picked it up and it dissolved into a swirl of colors.
"Another painting piece, well that was easy to find."
In the distance he heard three 'eek's in a row and a giggle from Mary. Three more down.
Without realizing in his excitement, Harry had run back to the bottom left corner of the room, where one of the black figures was riding on what seemed to be a little pastel-colored bird. Eye twitching, he nabbed the little figure, and the bird laid down on the ground, exhausted. 'Poor thing...' Harry thought to himself, petting the little bird like he would Hedwig. Countless 'eek's flew through the air once more, signaling that Mary and Garry had found a couple others. Looking over his shoulder, Harry noticed one more running figure that almost ran as fast as s Snitch flew. Sprinting, the Boy Who Lived grabbed it and held it into the air, this one giving an 'aaww...'. A sense of finality filled the air.
"Hey Garry, Mary! I think that's all of them!"
Soundlessly dodging the two red figures that were heading his way, the emerald eyed boy made his way over to the open book. Seconds later, Garry trotted in followed by a bouncing Mary. Digging the drawings out of their pockets, the trio let the now squirming figures into the white open pages. They all made their little garbled squeaking noises, that almost sounded like petulant children being forced to go to bed, until they were all inside, the book closing on its own. A ding was heard from somewhere, and Harry looked around, confused.
"Shouldn't there be a painting piece somewhere? We solved the puzzle..."
"I found one earlier, but solving the puzzle might have unlocked a second one." Garry replied with a shrug.
Slightly dejected that the catching of all those things was for naught, Harry trudged to the door when something caught his eye. A painting piece laid propped up against the wall under Insomnia Coffin, which was now letting out light snores. Giddily he jogged up to the piece and picked it up, smiling as it disappeared in a swirl of color.
"Well, we found the painting, let's move on to the next room."
Out the door they went, ready to go to the next challenge, when the trio heard something come out of the door. It was the little bird, who looked much happier than it had been when Harry had first seen it. The little bird looked up at them, expectantly.
"Ah? It's coming along..."
"Aaaaw, it's so cute!"
Harry kneeled down to pat it on the head and it gave a few happy chirps. With the little bird following them now, the trio went to the room on the other side of the entrance. When Harry turned around, he realized the little bird stalled right before the door.
"You want to stay out here?"
It gave a little nod and a chirp.
"Alright then, see you when we come out then."
Mary excitedly turned the knob, and they were in.
"Hey Harry, Garry?"
"Yes, Mary?"
"What are those?"
"Those, my dear, are cacti."
Turning to the notice on the wall, Harry read the words written on it.
'Cactus Terrace'
A patch of countless little plants.
Those who step on them will surely induce their rage.
"What? A maze of cacti...?" gasped Garry aloud, before craning his head to look beyond the spiny plants, "There are things over there... But this is awfully dangerous. Mary, Harry, wait here, okay? I'll get it myself."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, worriedly.
"Yes."
"Then go for it Garry, good luck!"
"Alright, I'll be back in a flash! Just wait here, you two."
"Don't get thorns in your coat!"
"Ahaha, okay! I'll watch out for that."
With that, he walked away, passing a rather abstract painting that just looked like someone put paint blots on paper titled Mayhem of Color. With a shrug, Garry continued until he heard a wet paint sound from behind. The paint blots from Mayhem of Color had come to life and were now on the move as a single, formless walking entity.
"Garry watch out!"
Nodding to himself, the American wizard sped past the cactus maze without touching any of the spines, aware of the fact that the paint was floating over the damn things and was catching up to him fast. Spotting a grey rose shaped ceramic plate, Garry surmised that breaking it would probably get the blots of color to stop chasing him. Ignoring the other waiting painting piece, he weaved through the narrow path and reached the second painting piece, picking it up quickly. Not even waiting to see it disappear, because the walking paint blots were right behind him, Garry slammed his heel down on the plate, hearing it crack with a large grin. Turning around, Garry happily noted that the blots had gone as well. At a much slower, relived pace, the purple haired teen walked to the other painting piece and smiled as it vanished like its counterpart did. With that done, Garry walked back to his waiting friends.
"Sorry for the wait, guys. I got all the things over there… Now, let's move on!"
Harry rolled his eyes but still discreetly counted the petals on Garry's rose just to make sure there were ten of them.
"Yeah let's go, the little birdie is probably waiting for us!" Mary giggled out.
"Well this is new."
The night from the sculpture seemed to have spilled out, and covered the floors of the entrance and the doors next to it. It shimmered slightly, as if the night was a tangible, oily substance. Absentmindedly Harry bent down to what used to be clean tile, and dipped a few fingers into the split liquid. It felt...cold, but not a bad cold, and it had the same ethereal feel as the rainbow bridge back in the higher Gallery. He felt calmness flow from the night into his fingers, the tranquility and peace...
Before he knew it, Harry's eyelids were drooping, until Garry shook him awake again.
"I know that you're tired, we all are, but let's find a better place to take a rest, okay?"
"The night that spilled...it makes you drowsy." Harry defended, pointing at the black liquid flowing on the ground, "it really is like liquid night."
Two chirps sounded from the distance. The little pastel bird was pattering towards them from where it was waiting for them at Tryst After Death, flapping its stubby wings in joy. It stopped in front of Harry, who petted it.
"Hello again, were you waiting long?"
This time the bird took a part of Harry's baggy, ripped jeans in its mouth and started tugging him forward. Confused, the Boy Who Lived turned to Garry.
"I believe it wants us to follow." was the purple haired teen's reply.
Harry looked down at the bird, which nodded and began to walk forward. They followed it past Drinking in the Night to a door on the right side. On the bout of narrow corridor leading to it was a sign that read "Endless Corridor".
Once through the door, the trio was met with a corridor three people wide, with a teal paint message splattered on the left side. The small bird walked to the center of the corridor, to where the message was, and began to move strangely. Harry absentmindedly noted its steps. Two steps forward, one step right, one step forward, two steps left, two steps forward, one step left, then three steps forward. After that, it paused, then simply walked forward into the dark hallway.
"Where did it go?" asked Mary, narrowing her eyes to try the find the bird, "I'm going to go find it!" With that, she ran off into the dark.
"Mary!" Harry called, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Let her go, she'll be back soon enough."
"What? How?"
"The title of this room is 'Endless Corridor', so I assume that without knowing the secret to this room we'd be just running into infinity, but if we turn back we would find ourselves a couple of steps from where we started. It's a common trick to hiding one's things."
"Why didn't Dumbledore think of this?! It's ingenious!" Harry fumed, one eye twitching madly, glaring at the hallway.
Out from the darkness came a very confused Mary.
"...Huh? How did I get back here so fast..?" Garry shrugged.
"Endless Corridor, Mary." was his answer.
Harry's attention was drawn to the paint scrawling on the wall. Walking up to it, he read its message.
The way she'll be shown to those pure of heart.
"That bird... Didn't it seem to be moving oddly?" Garry muttered aloud, "I'm a bit curious as to why..."
'Moving oddly,' Harry thought to himself, 'And the pathway will be shown... Oh, I see now. The bird was showing the pure of heart...us? It showed us the way...I guess this is as thanks for saving it?'
The emerald eyed wizard walked to where the bird had started, and began to recite its movements in his head. Once he finished the steps he walked forward to find the bird ahead of him staring at a painting of a pastel bird in a nest. The best had an extra space, enough for another bird. When he stepped closer to it, the bird turned to him and flew right into the painting. Cautiously, Harry walked up to the painting. When he got close enough, the pastel bird chirped happily at him. Looking at the plaque below it, Harry read the title.
Place of Warmth
"So it had a home here..." he said aloud, and without warning tears started to flow down his eyes.
He wanted to go home, but where was home? Certainly not the Dursley's, and even Hogwarts had started losing its charm after both the Dragon incident with Norbert and the bloody Heir of Slytherin Fiasco. The title was Place of Warmth, so where did he feel warm? Happy? He would say Hogwarts, but his mind directed him to thoughts of Garry and Mary. The three of them were almost like a family, much like he, Ron, and Hermione were. Was that home? It felt that way. They made this Gallery much more bearable, and Harry was grateful for their companionship, worry and care.
A sharp noise sounded from his right, and when he turned, the raven haired teen was faced with another painting piece, on that wasn't there before. Picking it up, he watched it disappear, and felt a sense of accomplishment. Drying his eyes, he went back to where his friends were. Garry was the first to run up, hug and admonish him on running off, while Mary cheered when Harry told the two of them what had happened. 'Yes,' Harry thought to himself, 'This is the place of Warmth.'
"That's six done, six more to go! We're halfway there!" chirped the blonde haired girl.
"Yes, halfway there, we are almost out of here." Garry sighed out in relief.
With that, the trio left the now not so endless corridor, to find that more night had been spilled onto the ground. Over half the room's floor was covered in the liquid night. Carefully maneuvering as to not slip on the wet floor, they made their way over to the giant painting.
"It's half done, any idea what it is?" Harry asked.
"Nope, no idea." answered Garry.
"Yup, no idea either." pipped up Mary, mimicking Garry's answer, to which the teen rolled his eyes.
As they walked away from the giant mystery painting, Harry saw a smaller painting hanging from the side of the room they hadn't really explored yet. It was in a brown circular frame, depicting a small pink flower on the bottom, but the white background was left blank in some areas. The plaque beneath it read:
The Beauty of Blanc
"Hey Garry, what does Blanc mean?" asked Garry, who made his way over to the curious younger teen to observe the painting.
"Blanc is the French word for 'white'." Garry turned to the painting, "Hmm... It leaves parts blank... An experiment in white space?" he grimaced, "...Sorry, but this just comes off as a lack of effort to me..."
Harry and Mary laughed.
Walking down, they spotted another short corridor of to the side, much like the one the bird had led them through. Instead of just a title on the wall, a short page was hung instead.
Cycloptic Smile: A Study
Focus your eyes and look...
Who is the one that lives?
Shrugging to each other, the trio entered the room.
"Out of all the rooms so far... I have to say...Out of all the creepy rooms we had gone through...
This takes the cake."
Harry couldn't disagree.
Along the walls, top, middle, and bottom, was the same painting repeated over and over again. It depicted a woman with dark brown hair tied into a low ponytail with a chestnut colored hair-tie, the end of the tail slung over her right shoulder, red lips and a single, giant eye against a magenta background. They were all staring forward, and it creeped the hell out of Harry.
They walked to the larger wall of paintings, and Garry shuddered.
"Oooogh...these paintings are...ugh...creepy."
"The sign said that only one of these paintings are alive..." whispered Mary.
"How are we supposed to find one living painting amongst this crowd?" muttered Garry in frustration.
"No idea," said Harry, "but we might as well walk around to see if there's anything here to help us."
As they rounded the bend, they found painting piece lying in the corner. Mary picked it up and it once again vanished to join the rest of its found brethren. They walked through the second wall of creepy cyclops paintings, and were just about to round the bend again when Mary caught movement out of the corner of her eye.
"WAIT!" Garry and Harry whirled around, "I saw one of them move!"
"Which one, Mary?" Garry asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I know it was one of those." the girl in the green dress replied, gesturing to the row of paintings at the top.
"Focus your eyes and see... The painting might move again, watch them carefully." Harry said, and they spread out and waited.
It didn't take long for Harry to see one painting, fourth from the right, smile wider for a few seconds, before returning to appear like the others.
"There!" Harry cried, "It's that one! She's alive!"
The Boy Who Lived pointed at the painting, and the cyclops within stared down at him with her single eye. For a few seconds they stood there, locked in a staring contest, before the frame began to shake. Harry took a step back as a painting piece fell from behind the frame. Dubiously he glared at the cyclops, but she moved no more. Sighing, he picked up the painting and watched it vanish.
"Well, looks like we're done here." he said, glancing around.
"Good." Garry murmured, let's get out of here."
When they opened the door, they were greeted with a messy sight.
"Merlin," Harry breathed, "Look at the mess!"
Almost the entire floor was covered in liquid night, and it had even invaded the corridors leading to the doors. Most of the bottom floors were now thick with the substance, and Harry worried that if they walked in it they might fall asleep. Because of this, the trio decided to stick to the upper area of the room. Next to The Beauty of Blanc was another door, and they decided that it was a decent option to try as any, so they went in.
The room was surprisingly reminiscent of the old Gallery, having an easel on the bottom right hand corner, nearest to the door, a stool with two small bookcases near the wall a few steps away, and three small bookcases located on the other side. Three large bookcases were situated sided by side in the back left corner, taking up a little over half the space of the back wall. On the right side of the back wall hung a blue curtain that was slightly tattered on the edges. They were closed.
"Hey, Harry, Mary..." The two turned to look at Garry.
"Yeah?"
"Should we rest a bit? This seems to be a safe room." They looked around and realized he was right.
"Huh, you're right. Yeah, sure, let's take a break!" Mary replied, and Harry agreed.
"All that running around really wore out my legs..." Garry commented with a sigh, "Ahh, this is miserable..."
The American wizard walked down to the back wall and slid down, sitting between the bookcases and the curtains. Mary sat down between him and the curtains, sighing softly.
"Yeah...my feet are starting to hurt..." mumbled Mary.
Harry walked up to them, and watched in amusement as Garry rested his head against the wall.
"Ahh... I'm exhausted... I feel like my legs are becoming one with the ground." stated Garry, which caused the raven haired boy to chuckle.
"You should...take a rest soon to, Harry." Mary said softly.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "I think I will..."
He walked over to the little stool and sat down, leaning against the side of the small bookcase. Taking a few minutes to stretch his legs and rest, Harry let his mind wander. They only had four more pieces left to collect, and then the giant painting will be complete. But how long was it until they truly reached the end? Time seemed to have no meaning here, no day, no night, no hours or minutes. How long has it been since he jumped into Abyss of the Deep? It seemed like weeks, but he had only fallen asleep once, and that felt like days ago. Harry had the feeling that they were almost there, almost out of the Gallery.
Almost home.
Omake 1: Video Game Logic
With that, they rounded the bend to find the next set of stairs that were inset in the wall area, just like the exit to the Sketchbook was. Harry noted that the stairs went down.
"You know, we just had to climb a flight of stairs to reach another set of stairs that go down. In what universe does this make sense?"
"This one, in which video game logic works." Garry stated.
Both Mary and Garry turned to face him, confusion written on their faces.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing, Jeez, he really is rubbing off on me..."
Cackling was heard in the distance.
Omake 2: Harry Is DONE
"Well...if it's going to be another one of those puzzles, maybe we ought to collect all of these...painting parts."
"...No."
Garry and Mary turned to Harry, whose face was blank.
"What was that, Harry?"
"I said no. I am DONE with this! I will NOT go on another one of the stupid scavenger hunts for a stupid painting! I am at my wits end and right now the thought of going on yet ANOTHER one of these BLOODY SCAVENGER HUNTS is making my blood boil. You know what? When I get out of here, I am going to HUNT DOWN that red eyed prat who killed my parent and THROW HIM IN HERE! See how he likes trying to get out of here!
Honestly none of this stuff is even that hard! It's just ingenious and tedious and dangerous! WHY THE BLOODY HELL WASN'T THIS USED TO GUARD THE BLOODY PHILOSOPHER'S STONE DAMMIT?!
Screw this shit. Harry Potter OUT!"
And with that, Harry blasted a hole through the wall (screw continuity, Harry's PISSED) and marched out, swearing like a sailor, leaving Garry and Mary to gape behind him.
Omake 3: Too Drunk
"Well this is new."
The night from the sculpture seemed to have spilled out, and covered the floors of the entrance and the doors next to it. It shimmered slightly, as if the night was a tangible, oily substance.
"Yeah, it looks like someone's getting too drunk to hold their night alcohol."
Omake 4: In A Crowd
"The sign said that only one of these paintings are alive..." whispered Mary.
"How are we supposed to find one living painting amongst this crowd?" muttered Garry in frustration.
"Hold on," Harry interrupted, holding an arm out, "I got this."
He trotted up to the area where he could see both painting-covered walls and cupped his hands together and put them over his mouth like a megaphone.
"WEISS GUERTENA IS A SHITTY ARTIST!" he yelled, and from the far area he heard.
"FIGHT ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
Turning back to his two friends, Harry smirked.
"Found her."
AN:
Oni: And that is another chapter done!
Garry: If you want faster updates...
Mary: Review, Review, Review!
Oni: Oh yes, that's what I was forgetting. I have a prioritizing system now (because four fanfictions at the same time gets hectic) and am writing chapters based on how demanding it is. The more Reviews, the more readers I know want it to be updated. Currently my other crossover fic DVaMA is top, along with GGG.
Harry: That should be it, right?
Oni: Yeah, so see you next time, my pretties!