Now with Mary in tow, Ib and the rest of her party continued their adventure to escape the Fabricated World.
"Ah, that's right..." Garry remembered, turning to Mary. "Seeing how Ib, Florian and I all have roses... Mary, do you perhaps have a rose as well?"
"Yeah, I do! A yellow rose!" Mary answered as she took out her yellow rose to show it off.
"Ah, so you do!" Garry noticed.
"Wait... All of us have different colored roses?" Florian realised as he took his green rose out of his pocket.
"It appears that way. All of them appear to be different." Garry confirmed as he and Ib took out their blue and red roses respectively.
All four members of the group looked at their roses and each others until Garry put his away to address Ib and Mary.
"You two keep those safe." Garry warned the duo. "Don't you dare lose it. And don't give it to anyone. And..."
"Wooow, Ib's rose is reeed! My rose is yellooow!" Mary cheerfully interrupted. "I like yellow, but I also like pink! Oh, and blue!"
As she was rambling over the different colors she liked, Florian chuckled at Mary's childish mannerisms. He clearly found her absolutely adorable.
"...Learn to listen, would you?" Garry muttered, a bit annoyed that Mary ignored his advice.
"Relax, Garry, she is just a child, after all." Florian replied. Garry then sighed and relented.
"I suppose you have a point... Let's move on." He said. Mary decided to go back the way the others came to look around, and noticed the book Florian threw on the ground.
"I wonder what this says?" Mary wondered, before turning to the adults. "Read it for me, please..."
"Uh…" Florian said awkwardly, not really sure what to tell her. "... I'd rather not." Garry continued.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a bad idea, bad idea. You really shouldn't read that." Florian agreed.
"Huuuh, why? I wanna know!" Mary whined.
"... It's too soon for you two." Garry replied.
"Garry's right, you should wait another 10 years probably." Florian added. Mary pouted sadly at this.
As the group continued looking around, they came across another painting that said Fleeting Thoughts on a Moonlit Night.
"Wooow, pretty!" Mary said as she looked at the painting. "I wonder what this is?
"A cherry blossom? Plum tree? I'm not too sure which…" Garry responded.
"Hmm... Can you eat it?" Mary wondered.
"... Er. It's a tree, dear." Garry awkwardly answered.
"Ooopsie!" Mary innocently replied.
"To be fair, she probably thought that by cherries and plums, as in the fruits." Florian added, probably trying to validate what she meant.
"Hm… Maybe you're right. Let's keep going." Garry declared as the group pressed forward.
They eventually found another room, which Ib felt compelled to enter. Inside, the room was full of bunnies, with one painting of a larger bunny on the wall titled Red Eyes. Ib and Mary seemed to like them, but Garry and Florian seemed uneasy.
"...The love of... This painting, this room…" Garry said in a disturbed tone. "Why must it be so unsettling?!"
"Huh? Really...? I think it's cute…" Mary said.
"Wha...?! What about this is CUTE?!" Garry exclaimed.
"I just think it is…" Mary argued before turning to Ib. "What about Ib?"
"I wanna pet it." Ib answered softly.
"...Ib... Do you... really like this kind of thing...?" Garry asked in surprise. "I can hardly stomach it…"
"See? Ib says it's cute!" Mary cheered before focusing on Florian. "What do you think, Florian?"
"Uh… I-I'm not sure…" Florian answered nervously.
"What do you mean you're not sure…?' Mary complained.
"I-I mean… It might be cute depending on how you look at it. Maybe…?" Florian added, trying to make up an excuse.
"What are you talking about? You two are just weirdos!" Mary pouted to the two adults. "You're the weirdos!" Garry argued.
"Okay, guys, ease up…" Florian interjected, not wanting to see them come to blows over something so petty.
"...Ugh, never mind that! Let's investigate this place and get out of it already!" Garry relented. "I feel like I'm being watched in this room... Talk about unsettling."
"Yeah… Any longer, I might get another panic attack…" Florian stated as he began looking around.
The group decided to leave, but just as they did, one of the rabbit ornaments unexpectedly broke, getting their attention.
"Aw… One of them broke…" Mary said sadly.
"That wasn't me!" Florian stated.
Ib meanwhile, looked at the broken ornament curiously, and picked up a violet key. After taking the key, the group soon found themselves coming across another painting called Flowers of Jealousy, which Florian noticed was completely blank.
"...There's nothing here." He said, very confused.
"Huh…? Where are the pretty flowers…?" Mary added sadly.
Immediately after, a sound began emanating from the painting, getting the group's attention.
"Do you guys hear that?" Florian asked.
"Yeah... What is that?" Garry wondered.
"Huh...? That sound's...getting closer...!" Mary noticed. Suddenly, a flower bloomed from inside the painting, startling everyone.
"I don't like this... What's happening?!" Florian fearfully wondered. Just then, some vines began coming out of the floor, making everyone even more worried.
"W-What!?" Garry exclaimed.
"Something came up from the floor!" Mary added.
"Th-This seems bad!" Garry panicked. "Get away from the painting!"
"Ib! Watch out!" Mary warned Ib.
"Ahh! Ah!" Florian screamed in fright.
The vines grew bigger, and everyone rushed to safety. Because of this, the group was now separated, with Ib and Mary on one side, and Garry and Florian on the other side.
"Okay, I seriously don't wanna be here anymore!" Florian stated.
"Are you two alright?!" Garry asked the two girls.
"Ahh... That scared me!" Mary replied in shock.
"What about you, Ib? Are you hurt?" Garry asked, clearly concerned.
"That was scary..." Ib meekly said, as she fearfully held on to Mary's arm for comfort.
"That's okay… Just as long as you're not hurt." Garry replied, before realising the dilemma they were now in. "But with these...things in the way, we can't get over there..."
"We've gotta do something though. We can't be split apart now." Florian argued.
"Breaking them...is probably impossible." Garry countered. "They're absolutely huge... What to do?"
"Would your lighter work on these things?" Florian wondered.
"I don't think so..." Garry disagreed. "These are made of stone. They feel too strong for fire to have any effect on them."
"Hm... I guess you're right..." Florian relented. "Anyone got any ideas?"
There was a silence until Mary thought of an idea.
"...Hey, Ib. You got a key in that room, right?" Mary remembered, before looking towards a door on their side. "Maybe that key... Opens that door there? We might find something inside that can break these."
"That's actually a really good idea! Good thinking!" Florian said, making Mary happy as she turned back to him and Garry.
"Yay! So, hey, can we look?" She asked the two.
"Hrmm...well..." Garry thought. "I wonder if you'll be okay by yourselves..." "He does have a point. It is a good idea, but it still does seem pretty dangerous..." Florian added.
"We'll be fine!" Mary reassured the pair before turning to Ib. "Right, Ib?"
"I think so." Ib gently agreed.
"See, Ib thinks we'll be fine!" Mary cheerfully added.
"M-My...is that so...?" Garry asked, still unsure. "I think we should give them a chance." Florian advised.
"We don't really have any other options, and I thought you said that Ib actually saved you before you guys saved me."
"Well, I'll suppose we'll let you look..." Garry relented.
"Alright. Besides, while they go looking for something in there, we could potentially look for something in here." Florian suggested.
"Fine. But if you don't find anything, make sure you come straight back, understand?" Garry told the girls. "Then we'll reconsider our options."
"Yeah! Got it!" Mary agreed before facing Ib. "Okay, let's go!"
With that, Ib and Mary entered through the violet door, enabling them access to the Brown Room.
"Be careful, you two!" Garry called out to the girls.
"Yeah..." Florian agreed before facing Garry. "Let's go back that way, and see if there's something we can find in the meantime."
"Okay, Florian. Let's stay together." Garry agreed as they too departed to find their own way.
And that's Part 3 done! For the next 2 parts, I plan on having them intertwined with each other; So one part will focus on Ib and Mary, while the other will focus on Garry and Florian. Also fun fact I forgot to mention: If you remember back in Part 1, I mentioned that the setting for my Ib fanfic is set in Florida. The reason why is because I did that as a shout-out to legendary painter Bob Ross, who also lived in Florida.